Runaway
by chewybillabong
Summary: Tsuna was brought up aware about his role of being the next boss of Vongola much to his displeasure. When a conversation with Nono pushes him over the edge, he runs away to Namimori to regain what little freedom he has left. On the other hand, Nono thinks that his grandson has been kidnapped and sends Reborn to bring him back. All27 Main pairings tbd. Songfic for the first 2 chaps
1. Chapter 1

Hello~ I hope that you enjoy the story :D I'll be coming back at a later date to edit the songs out of chapter 1 and 2

A huge thanks to RainbowMaze for betaing this chapter 3

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn ;-; I wish I did though**_

Chapter One

Tsuna readied his fits as his opponent circled around him. He began to sweat slightly as he felt Nono's piercing gaze on his back. His slight distraction gave the other man an opening and he attacked. Tsuna tripped in his attempt to run away and ended up dodging the blow. As he stood up, his head smacked the guy in the chin, sending him crashing to the ground.

His grandfather clapped his hands. "Very well done Tsuna! Finish him off!" He tossed Tsuna a knife, the blade glinted in the air. Fumbling the knife with his hands, it was by pure luck that he caught it by the hilt. Nono smiled approvingly.

Tsuna looked down at the knife in one of his hands before turning back to stare at Nono. "I don't want to do it."

Nono narrowed his eyes before they unclouded. "Not feeling bloodthirsty today? What a shame."

Tsuna nodded in response. Not that he was ever bloodthirsty.

His grandfather reached into his breast pocket and pulled out another knife that was quickly embedded into the man's neck. Tsuna felt the blood splash onto his face and resisted the urge to throw up then and there. There would be time for that later when he would be alone in his room with no one to judge. He stood up on unsteady legs and tried his best to hide his body shivers.

"You are very honourable Tsuna. I understand that you didn't want to kill that man with a weapon because he didn't have one. Yes, that would be unfair to him, but that man was another famiglia's spy. If the roles were reversed, and he was in your position, he would have killed you."

Tsuna nodded going along with the story even though it wasn't true. He just didn't want to kill anyone. Wasn't there a way to do things without killing?

Nono began to walk away, using his hand to beckon Tsuna, who quickly scrambled after him, to follow. "There is something important that I've been meaning to discuss with you that I wasn't sure about, until I saw your fight. Now that I know you can look after yourself, that will make things a lot easier."

They approached Nono's office, and the man outside—who was wearing a suit—opened the door for them. Tsuna took a seat opposite his grandfather as he continued speaking. "I am old. I do not think that I will live for many more years. All of my sons have already passed away, and you are my only heir since Iemitsu is part of CEDEF."

Tsuna suddenly realised the direction the conversation was going, but he kept silent, praying that he was wrong. "Next week you turn sixteen. I have the best coming-of-age present for you. How would you like your very own mafia famiglia?"

Tsuna was speechless. The first emotion that filled him was dread. He didn't want to run a mafia famiglia! In fact, if he wasn't born into it, he wouldn't want anything to do with the mafia! His grandfather chuckled at his reaction. "You're so shocked you don't know what to say!"

"B-but I don't think-"

Nono's eyes sharpened. "Don't stutter. It's unbecoming of a mafia boss. I know that there's a lot of preparation to be done, but I'm sure that everyone will be thrilled, especially your father."

Tsuna did his best to swallow his emotions as he gritted his teeth and bowed his head, forcing a smile onto his face. "Thank you grandfather. I'm honoured that you chose me." Not that there was anyone else to choose.

Nono smiled joyously, thrilled to see that Tsuna was happy. Nono reached over the desk and clapped his hand onto Tsuna's shoulder. "Glad to see you're so eager and already warming up to the idea."

Far from it. Tsuna raised his face and watched as a look of disgust flashed across his grandfather's face. "Go wash your face. There's blood all over it."

Tsuna felt his stomach move again. "Yes grandfather." He stood up and walked to the door. He casted a glance at his grandfather, but Nono had already begun signing the paperwork situated in front of him.

Tsuna ducked out of the room, quietly closing the door before quickly making his way to his room. He didn't want the blood to remain on his face. He locked his bedroom door and then moved to the adjacent bathroom, locking the door to the bathroom as well. He staggered to the toilet and retched, clutching the sides of the rim for support. When there wasn't anything left inside for him to throw up, he staggered to the sink.

He looked in the mirror and grimaced. The blood had dried on his face and the putrid scent of vomit filled the air. He turned on the tap and ran his fingers under the cold water before splashing it onto his face. He wiped away the crusted blood clinging to his skin and rinsed his mouth. He let out a sigh before closing the tap.

Tsuna looked at his reflection. " _Look at me. You may think you see me… who I really am… but you'll never know me. Everyday it's as if I play a part. Now I see; if I wear a mask I can fool the world but I cannot fool my heart."_

He straightened up automatically like his grandfather taught him.

" _Who is that boy I see, staring straight back at me? When will my reflection show who I am inside?"_

Tsuna moved away and sat on the edge of the bathtub, turning the handles for water.

" _I am now in a world where I have to hide my heart and what I believe in. "But somehow I will show the world what's inside my heart and be loved for who I am."_

He watched the water gush out of the faucet, slowly filling up the bathtub. Once it was filled enough, he reached over and pushed the handles back in place. Tsuna stared at his distorted reflection in the moving water.

" _Who is that boy I see? Staring straight back at me? Why is my reflection someone I don't know? Must I pretend that I'm someone else for all time? When will my reflection show who I am inside?"_

He turned away from the bathtub and looked at the door. _"There's a heart that must be free to fly. That burns with a need to know the reason why."_

Tsuna took off his clothes and stepped into the bath, feeling the warm water welcome him with open arms. He pulled his knees to his chest and tilted his head back to lean it against the rim.

" _Why must we all conceal what we think, how we feel? Must there be a secret me I'm forced to hide? I won't pretend that I'm someone else for all time… When will my reflection show who I am inside?"_

He sunk lower into the water and closed his eyes. _"When will my reflection show who I am inside?"_

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Tsuna sat on his bed, drying his hair. His pet cat, Natsu, snuggled up against his side, flames licking at Tsuna. The fluffy mess on his head seemed to puff out even more as Tsuna switched from drying it to attempting to run a brush through it. The brush effectively got stuck in his hair, and as soon as he noticed it he sighed, lying on his bed. "I hate my hair," he groaned.

Natsu licked Tsuna's fingers encouragingly before turning his head to face the door. Tsuna stared at the door as well before sighing again and pulling out the brush, wincing as it pulled a clump of his hair with it. He got his hair to vaguely resemble what it normally looked like before he opened the door. "Can I help you?"

The man standing outside the door smiled, fist raised to knock on the door. "As expected of Tsuna-sama! You were able to tell that I was here before I even knocked!"

Tsuna inwardly cried. Even his pet had more skills then him. He tried to keep a neutral tone as he spoke. "And? Was there something you needed?"

"Nono would like the to-be Decimo to accompany him to dinner. He wished to discuss a few things with you."

Tsuna stiffened before forcing a smile onto his face. He was already being called Decimo . . . "Tell grandfather that I'll be right there." Tsuna shut the door before the other man could have a chance to respond. He let out a quiet moan since he knew what was going to happen.

"Natsuuuuuuuuu. Kill me nowwwwwwwwww." Natsu looked up at his master who suddenly collapsed rather pathetically on the floor. He jumped off the bed and padded to Tsuna who looked at him through half-lidded eyes. Natsu placed a paw on Tsuna's face before petting it gently.

Tsuna considered what Natsu was doing. "The roles have been reversed . . ." he whispered. He let out a groan before getting up and walking to his wardrobe, picking something more formal to wear that his grandfather would approve of.

"Why do I do this to myself?"

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Dinner was surprisingly a quiet affair, but Tsuna knew that it was after dinner that his grandfather would talk. Thus, he ate slowly.

His grandfather regarded him silently. "I've only just noticed this but, Tsuna, you eat like a rabbit."

Tsuna paused, fork halfway to his mouth. What was the response that Nono wanted? It didn't sound like a compliment nor a criticism. He opted for the safe option. "I'm not really hungry."

"That's a shame." Nono swirled a glass of red wine in his hand. "I had the chefs prepare this meal especially for you."

Tsuna looked at his plate, feeling a little bit guilty, before putting his fork down.

Nono took this as a sign that he could start the conversation. "The ascendtion will be held on your birthday, as you already know. Therefore, for the days leading up to that, you will be helping me with all of the Don's duties."

Tsuna felt his stomach drop.

"And as such, I'll be leaving a bodyguard with you at all times. There will be more attempts on your life now that people know you're my heir."

Tsuna frowned. "That impacts on my freedom. I don't want someone to follow me everywhere."

Nono set down the wine glass and clasped his hands together. "Tsuna. There are many things that we must sacrifice for the greater picture. There will be many things that you will have to give up, whether it be money, lives, or other things."

He swallowed hard before he spoke. "So you want me to give up my freedom and the lives of those who will be close to me."

Nono made a circular motion with his hands. "Well yes."

Tsuna straightened up more. He was tired of all this. He was tired of always following orders. He was tired of living a lie. And, most of all, he was afraid of what was going to happen. His grandfather was honestly telling him what he'd have to give up, so he was going to answer honestly as well. "If that's the case, then I refuse the title of Decimo."

Nono's eyes flashed. "Pardon? I must be having hearing problems. Would you mind repeating what you just said?"

"I refuse the title of Decimo."

Nono pinched the bridge of his nose. He had hoped he had heard wrong.

"I want to decide what I do with my future for myself. I don't want to feel like I'm forced to be someone I'm not and do things I don't want to."

"You're future was decided the moment you were born! You will be the Vongola Decimo; there is no other way around it!" Nono raised his voice.

Tsuna looked down at his hands, tears brimming, but he rapidly blinked them away. Nono ran a hand over his face. "Now look what you've done. You made me raise my voice. I don't want to talk to you anymore. I'll give you tomorrow off for you to enjoy the last bit of your freedom. By then your attitude will change." Nono raised a hand and made a dismissing gesture.

Tsuna stood up and left the room, his unruly bangs covering his eyes.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Tsuna closed the door behind him and sunk to the floor of his bedroom. One knee fell to the floor and the other he rested his hands on. Natsu came closer, sensing something wrong with his master.

"Hey, Natsu . . . let's run away." Tsuna's voice was quiet but steady. He looked up, eyes full of determination. "I don't think I can do this anymore. I'm tired of pretending to be something I'm not."

He stood up and made his way to his wardrobe, Natsu trailing after. He grabbed a bag and began to packed casual clothes—like the ones he saw people outside of the house wearing—and a set of formal clothes.

He grasped his wallet and opened it. There were a few Euros inside as well as some cards. He took out the card that gave him access to the Vongola cash kept in the vault. It was traceable. Several years earlier, Tsuna had made a fake account under the name Natsu Sawada where he secretly transferred the funds that should have gone to his Vongola account whilst making it untraceable. It was his best kept secret. He didn't even know why he had done it, but now he was thankful that he had. He emptied his wallet of everything but the cash and the credit card, as well as a fake identity card and passport that showed his alias as Natsu Sawada.

He left the bag by the door before winking to Natsu. "I'll be borrowing your name for a while."

" _I look around me and all I seem to see are people going nowhere."_ He pressed his back against the wall of his room. _"It's like we're going through the motions of a scripted destiny. Tell me where's our inspiration? If life won't wait, I guess it's up to me."_

He smiled widely at Natsu. He was going to make of it. He was going to create his own future where everything happens because of his own actions and not the orders of another.

" _No we're not going to waste another moment in this house! And we won't come back the world is calling out! We'll leave the past in the past; gonna find the future! Misery loves company well, so long, you'll miss me when I'm gone!"_

He turned to Natsu and let the cat climb upon his shoulder. He opened his window and looked at the drop below before moving back to get his bag.

" _Procrastination, running circles in my head while you sit there contemplating you wound up left for dead. Life is what happens when you're busy making your excuses. Another day: another casualty. But that won't happen to me!"_

The drop itself wasn't very far, but the chance of being found was very high. In the books that he read, there should be a tree nearby to aid him in his escape. He rolled his eyes, though, at the idea. There would be no trees near the windows because that was dangerous for a mafia family. Rope it would be then.

Tsuna grabbed rope from his closet that Nono made him keep in the case of an attack so that he'd be able to escape. "I bet you he didn't think that we'd use it against him."

Tsuna wrapped the rope around his bed post and tested it to see if it would hold before throwing it out of the window. He gripped it tightly in his hands and began to make his way down the side of the mansion.

Halfway down and no one had noticed him yet. When he dropped onto the ground, he stayed still just in case. Tsuna gave the rope a flick and watched as it all came down. He bundled the rope and stuffed it into the bag with everything else before making his way to the gate. He walked casually and as confidently as he could. A guard checking the perimeter bowed at Tsuna as he passed, and Tsuna gave him a slight tilt of his head. It was surprisingly easy to exit since the guards posted at the front gate let him pass without question. Tsuna began to wonder why he didn't think of leaving earlier.

When he was well away from the Vongola mansion and sure that no one was following him did he accept that he had successfully escaped.

He turned to Natsu and began to run. _"Let's go! Won't look back! When I say goodbye I'm going to leave this hole behind me! Gonna take what's mine tonight! Because every wasted day becomes a wasted chance! You're gonna wake up feeling sorry, because if life won't wait, I guess it's up to you!"_

He slowed down and hailed a cab.

" _No we're not going to waste another moment in this town! And we won't come back your world is calling out! We'll leave the past in the past gonna find the future! If misery loves company well, so long, you'll miss me when I'm gone!"_

The taxi pulled over and Tsuna opened the door and sat down, placing his bag and Natsu onto his lap.

The driver regarded Tsuna's expensive looking outfit and put on his best smile. "Where to sir?"

"The airport, please, if you know how to get there."

The man let out a chuckle. "You bet I do! Right away sir!"

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Tsuna paid the taxi driver before entering the airport. He made a beeline to the ticket counter where a lady welcomed him with a smile. Tsuna scanned the outgoing flights before picking one at random. "Hi, I'd like the flight to Namimori, Japan. The one that leaves in two hours."

The lady typed away on her computer keyboard. "Sir, would that be Economy Class, Business Class or First Class?"

Tsuna frowned. "What's the difference?"

The lady looked up from the keyboard and flashed her teeth at him. "Economy Class is the cheapest and most preferred option. Business Class gives you more privileges such as more leg space and how far your chair can go back. It also offers complementary items—which differ for each airline. First Class is all of what Business Class offers and more."

Tsuna smiled back at her before handing over his credit card and passport. "First Class please."

If the lady was surprised she didn't show it. "That'll be $3,800." She swiped his credit card on the payment terminal. "Savings or credit?"

"Credit."

She typed a bit more on the keyboard before handing back his card and passport with a slip of paper, signalling the end of the transaction. "Boarding begins in an hour and a half at Gate 12F. I hope you have a pleasant flight Mr. Sawada."

Tsuna smiled as well. "Thank you. I'm sure I will."

He began to make his way towards F Terminal and arrived at Gate 12 where he sat down on a chair. He began to regret not taking a book with him after waiting for a while. Before long, though, there was an announcement that informed the waiting passengers that they could board the flight to Namimori Tsuna soon found himself on a twelve and a half hour flight to Japan.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

He arrived in Namimori around five in the morning, and he let out a yawn as he exited the plane. He had slept for most of the trip and felt wide awake now as he glanced at his surroundings. He stretched as he made his way out of the airport and joined the line of people waiting for taxis.

When he finally settled down in the front seat of the taxi he signalled, he gave a smile to the driver. "Where to?" Tsuna was asked.

"Any hotel is fine."

The driver raised an eyebrow at the vague reply, but a quick scan of Tsuna's expensive-looking outfit and First Class ticket sticking out of his breast pocket told him all that he needed to know. "I'll take you to the Sky Hotel. It's the best one in town."

"Much obliged."

Several minutes into the ride, the driver began to make small talk. "So are you here for business or leisure?"

"Leisure. I'm taking a small holiday to get away from a few things." Well, it wasn't really a lie.

The driver nodded as he turned the steering wheel. "Namimori is small town. We don't get many visitors. What made you want to come here? Most people, when they think of holidays, think of a tropical place like Hawaii or Bali or something."

"It was a spur of the moment type of thing."

The driver spared Tsuna another glance. "You're not Japanese are you?"

Tsuna shrugged. "I don't know. I know my dad is European, but I have no idea about my mom's side of the family."

The driver tapped the wheel with his finger. "So you're orphaned?"

"No!" He said quickly. "My dad works as the head of his company and, cause of that, I don't see him much. I grew up under the laws of my grandfather."

"Rich kid huh?" the man muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, just talking to myself." He quickly changed the subject. "Your Japanese is pretty good for a foreigner."

"My grandfather made me learn several languages when I was young. Japanese was one of them."

The driver pulled into the driveway of a big-looking hotel. Tsuna let out a low whistle at the sight. It looked bigger than his house, and that was saying something. He quickly paid the driver and entered the lobby. A person wearing a suit opened the door for him and greeted him with a "Good morning", to which Tsuna replied with one as well. He walked up to the front desk, and the lady behind it smiled at him. "Hello. I'd like to a room to stay in."

The lady smiled. "Indeed. How long will you be planning to stay with us?"

Tsuna frowned. To be honest, he didn't know. "I'm not sure. Is there a way for me to pay at the end of my visit depending on how many days I stay?"

The lady typed on her keyboard, and Tsuna couldn't help but compare her to the lady at the airport. Even their smiles were the same. "Of course. We try our best to accommodate to all of our guests requirements. What type of room would like to stay in? We offer: single, queen, king, twin, junior suite, and suite for our single guests."

Tsuna said the only one from the list that he remembered. "King."

"Here's your room card. The elevator is by the stairs to your left. I hope you enjoy your stay with us." She pushed a card onto the table between them and then gave another smile.

Tsuna returned it with one of his own before making his way to the elevator. Another man in a suit pushed the button for him. After a few seconds, the doors opened and Tsuna stepped out into the hallway. In no time at all, Tsuna had made his way to his room.

The first thing he noticed was the bed. It was white and decorated with orange paisley designs. Next to it was a bedside table, which contained a phone and a menu to order food. Room service. His eyes wandered to the gold-coloured curtains that were open, letting the sun in and exposing the view from the fifth floor.

He opened a door that he spotted on his immediate right and peered into what appeared to be the bathroom. It was just like the one he had at home. He then opened the door on his left and walked into a closet. "Nice, Tsuna. You are being very smart," he grumbled to himself as he found a wire coat hanger stuck in his hair.

"Oh for the love of-" He pulled at it and watched as it, very much like his hairbrush, came out, taking hair with it. He pulled a face as he turned to Natsu. "At this rate, I'll be bald before I'm twenty."

After receiving a nip from said cat, who decided to climb back onto his shoulder, settling his belongings down, and changing his attire, he made his way to the shopping district after getting directions from one of the many suit-wearing people in the lobby. And here he thought that the mafia was the only place where people wore suits excessively.

It was only when he was walking past a bakery that the thought hit him. He was free. No one knew who he was here. No one had any expectations for him. A surge of confidence rose inside him and he gave a wide smile, ignoring the curious glances thrown his way. He could finally stop acting like he was the Decimo. Now he could just be Tsuna. That thought was more precious and more valuable to him than any gift his grandfather could give to him.

" _Shooting for the stars, desperately reaching for something in the dark! Pictures of memories buried in my heart! Lie awake and dream of the endless possibilities! Catch my breath and go for it!"_

He entered the bakery and picked a cake. After receiving it, he headed to sit at an empty table in the bakery. His fork came to his mouth and the taste of strawberries and cream filled his mouth. If he hadn't left, he'd never have known how good a cake could taste. He paid for it after finishing it and began to explore the district more.

" _Take apart everything that's holding me down! Make a point to pick a new direction to make a new connection!"_

He tried on different costumes at a costume store and talked with the worker there. They hit it off quick. He promised that he'd come visit again later, even though he didn't buy anything.

" _Is this what it feels like? Finding out that I've got the guts to say anything! Feels like breaking out when I can give up my reputation! Finally, I can see! Honestly, I've got the guts to say anything!"_

He tripped in the middle of the path but caught himself before he face-planted. He laughed it off before running onwards in no particular direction. An older boy, who introduced himself as Sasagawa Ryohei, joined him. Ryohei said something about him being extreme and then challenged him to a jogging race. Tsuna laughed before accepting the challenge and running after the boy.

" _Bold enough to fall flat on my face as I walk as they crawl. Slowing down; it's just a waste of time to let go. Tapping my fingers to the rhythm of the metronome counting opportunities!"_

He laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of what he was doing. He was in a different country, running with a stranger he didn't know and enjoying every bit of it. Ryohei joined in laughing, although he didn't know why. "Extremeeeeeeee!"

" _Take apart the gravity that's holding me down! Make a point to find a resolution! To be my own solution!"_

Ryohei led them to a cliff where they could view the whole of Namimori below them.

" _Finally, I can see! Honestly, I've got the guts to say anything!"_

Tsuna's eyes widened as he looked down at the town. His tried to catch his breath from the run, but the view quickly stole it again. "It's beautiful."

Ryohei stared at the town with a hint of pride and puffed out his chest. "It is! This is my favourite spot to the extreme! I like to come here when I have time or when I go on my runs! You should join me again next time, to the extreme!"

Tsuna blinked before he smiled. "Thank you Ryohei!"

Ryohei stared at Tsuna for a while, surprised by the sudden smile, but he quickly got over it and clapped him on the back. "Call me big brother! Anyone who can run like you did with me is my little brother!"

He looked at Ryohei, startled. That was the first time that someone had invited him into their family. He smiled even wider. He liked Ryohei. He could imagine that if he were to have an older brother-like figure in his life—besides Xanxus—he would be a lot like Ryohei. "Okay, big brother!"

Ryohei had to turn his face away from the brunette lest he see the slight pink that coloured his cheeks, but a low growling sound made him turn his head back to Tsuna. Tsuna blushed and wrapped an arm around his stomach. "I think I'm a little bit hungry."

Ryohei laughed at the cuteness of his new little brother. "I know a good sushi restaurant! They make the best sashimi, to the extreme! I'll treat you to commemorate our meeting!" He led the way to the sushi joint, and Tsuna amiably followed after him. After walking for a bit, a sign soon showed the name: TakeSushi.

Ryohei opened the door to TakeSushi and waited for Tsuna to walk in before him. The place was small, but almost all the tables were full. It looked like a very successful and profitable business. "Ryohei! Back again?" a man behind the counter cutting fish looked up at the white-haired man in delight.

"Yep, Uncle!" He put a hand on Tsuna's shoulder. "I brought my new little brother with me as well!"

"Oho?" The man squinted at Tsuna and began to scrutinise him. "I don't think I've seen him before."

"I came to Namimori this morning. I met Ryohei at the shopping district, and then we went jogging together." Tsuna stepped forward.

The man snorted. "That sounds like Ryohei. My name's Yamamoto Tsuyoshi. You can call me Uncle if you want."

"I'm Sawada Natsu." They exchanged smiles.

"Uncle, we're going to sit at the table in the corner!" Ryohei called, walking to an empty table.

"Yep! I'll send Takeshi over to take your orders!" Tsuyoshi said before going back to cutting his fish.

Tsuna followed Ryohei and took a seat opposite him. It seemed like most of them people in the room knew him since they called out greetings when Ryohei walked past them. "Natsu, what year are you in?" Ryohei asked, creating small talk.

Tsuna frowned. He'd never gone to school. Everything that he had learnt had come from his grandfather's tutors. "I'm not quite sure. I haven't gone to school before. My grandfather had me home-schooled instead."

"That's so cool, to the extreme!" Ryohei's eyes glittered with excitement. "What was it like?"

"Oh, it was very boring. I wasn't allowed to go outside the house without his permission; even if I did get his permission, he'd send someone to go with me. I never really was allowed to do anything on my own."

"That sucks, to the extreme!" Ryohei paused. "Does that mean that someone's with you right now?"

"Um, no?" Tsuna started to feel cautious as to where the conversation was going, so he was thankful for the interruption by a dark-haired youth.

"Have you guys decided on what you're going to order yet?" He wore the TakeSushi apron around his waist and had on a friendly smile.

"I'll have my usual, to the extreme!" Ryohei pumped his fist into the air.

"Okay, Ryohei!" The boy scribbled something, most likely Ryohei's usual meal, onto a notepad and then turned to Tsuna. "What about you?"

Tsuna looked around but couldn't find a menu. The boy noticed his plight and flashed a smile. "If I may, I recommend the TakeSushi weekly special. This week it's Ikura Gunkan and Sake Nigiri."

"Um, what?" was Tsuna's smart reply.

The boy stared at Tsuna in vague surprise. "You're a foreigner?"

"Yes, I come from Europe. This is my first time in Japan." Tsuna answered nervously.

The boy smiled brightly. "I'm sure you'll like it here! Anyway, Ikura Gunkan is like a salmon roe sushi thingy and Sake Nigiri is basically salmon sushi."

"I'll have that then, thank you." Tsuna smiled back at the boy.

The boy wrote the order down on his notebook before speaking again. "You have very good Japanese."

"My grandfather made me learn it when I was younger," Tsuna used the same excuse from last time.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Yamamoto Takeshi. You can call me Takeshi if you want. That man behind the counter is my dad." He pointed a thumb behind him and grinned widely.

"Sawada Natsu. You can call me Natsu if you want as well. Nice to meet you." Tsuna held out his hand for Takeshi to shake.

The boy, Takeshi, stared at the hand before reaching out and holding it. "I heard that foreigners like to hold hands when they first meet other people, but this is my first time experiencing it."

Tsuna felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of his face at the revelation. "It's called shaking hands."

"Oh, really? That's so cool! Hey, so what does my hand tell you?" he asked excitedly.

"I dunno? You have warm hands?" Tsuna mused.

"Aw, that's very nice of you to say that! You have warm hands as well, Natsu!" Takeshi beamed.

"Thank you?" Tsuna was getting more and more confused.

"Takeshi I think you can let go now," Ryohei interrupted.

"That's too bad. Holding hands was fun! Let's do it again later, Natsu!" Takeshi smiled brightly.

"O-okay."

Seeing them let go, Ryohei began to speak. "Did you know, Natsu was home-schooled? He doesn't even know what year he's in!"

"Eh? Is that so? Natsu, how old are you?" Takeshi asked curiously.

"I'm 15. I'll be 16 in a week," Tsuna answered with candor.

"Then you're probably in the same grade as me! I turned 16 a month ago! I'm a first year at Nami-High. Ryohei is a third year there."

"Is that so?" Tsuna replied hesitantly.

"Takeshi! Hurry up! You're keeping our other customers waiting!" Takeshi's dad shouted over.

"Yes dad! I'll be right there!" Takeshi shouted back towards his father before turning towards the pair. "Well, looks like I got to go now, but I'll come back later when I bring your food!"

He walked away, leaving Tsuna and Ryohei alone. Afraid that Ryohei might like to continue the conversation they had going before they were interrupted, Tsuna kept the subject on school.

"What's it like going to Nami-High?" he asked quickly.

Ryohei latched onto the subject like a leach. "It's extreme! You may not know this, but part of our school is famous!"

Tsuna raised his eyebrows. "Famous? Really?"

"Yup! Our Disciplinary Committee is so extreme!" Ryohei's voice filled with pride and something Tsuna couldn't quite put his finger on.

"What's a Disciplinary Committee?" he questioned curiously.

"It's people who make sure the students are doing the right thing like going to school on time, wearing the correct uniform; that sort of thing."

Tsuna nodded in understanding. It sounded like the guards around his grandfather's mansion.

"But what sets our Disciplinary Committee apart from others is the chairman, Hibari Kyoya. He takes his responsibilities seriously, to the extreme! He has a pair of tonfas and uses them to beat up anyone who breaks the rules. His father is the Chief of Police here in Namimori, and he gives his son free reign over the whole town. Because of that, Hibari beats up people who he sees doing the wrong thing. But, get this, he never comes to class and spends most of his time on the rooftop or looking for people to beat up. Because he's so bloodthirsty, no one questions his authority.

"His second-in-command is Tetsuya Kusakabe. The guy's mellower than Hibari. He's the only one who has any control whatsoever over him. If Hibari does the beating up then Tetsuya does the cleaning up. He runs the rest of the Disciplinary Committee. They're all very extreme members, might I say. All strong and all incredibly loyal to Tetsuya. You can tell who the Disciplinary Committee is, aside from Hibari, by the fact that they wear pompadours and have a red band around their arms."

Tsuna nodded thoughtfully. "Interesting. And they're really famous, huh?"

Ryohei nodded. "Everyone in this town and the surrounding area knows about him. But I guess it's thanks to him that we live our lives relatively safely."

Takeshi approached them with two plates in his hands. "Hey guys, I got your orders here!"

He placed a dish in front of Tsuna and the other one in front of Ryohei. Tsuna spared a glance at Ryohei's plate and couldn't tell what it was.

"Futomaki. The one that Ryohei is eating has kanpyo, cucumber and mushrooms," Yamamoto helpfully supplied.

The dark-haired boy took a seat next to Tsuna. "Dad's giving me a break for the rest of the day now that the lunch time rush is over."

Tsuna picked up the pair of chopsticks uncertainly. His grandfather had never thought it necessary for him to learn it. "How do I use these?"

Takeshi and Ryohei looked at him in surprise. "You don't know how to use chopsticks, to the extreme?!" Ryohei shouted in shock.

"I never had a need to." Tsuna's cheeks flushed slightly at his lack of skill.

Takeshi smiled. "I'll teach you!" He grabbed the chopsticks from Tsuna's hand. "You hold is like this, and it should feel normal in your hand. Then you press the ends together like so, and that's how you use them!"

He handed them back to Tsuna who just looked even more confused than before. "I don't suppose you have a fork or anything?"

Takeshi replied instantly with another smile. "We're a sushi joint. We don't use forks. All we have is chopsticks and spoons."

Tsuna let out a defeated sigh before looking at the chopstick and moving them awkwardly. "If you want, I could feed you?" Takeshi smiled again.

"Eh?!" Tsuna shouted, blushing at the idea.

Ryohei choked on the piece of sushi in his mouth.

"Here like this!" Takeshi took the chopsticks from Tsuna, picked up one of the Ikura Gankan, and placed it in front of Tsuna, who instinctively opened his mouth.

Tsuna's face lit up in delight. "It's delicious!"

Yamamoto's smile widened. "Right?!"

And so Takeshi began to feed Tsuna another piece until they were all gone. By the end of it, Tsuna's face had turned less pink than it was at the start, although a slight dusting was still visible on his face.

"Hey, Natsu, how long are you staying in Namimori for?" Takeshi asked curiously. Ryohei looked over at Tsuna as well, also curious to know the answer.

Tsuna shrugged. "I have no idea."

Ryohei frowned. "Won't your grandfather be worried?"

Tsuna winced. "Probably."

"How can you not know how long you're staying? Aren't you here for a holiday or something?"

"Um . . . sure."

"Mah mah, I'm sure it's not like you ran away from home or something!" Takeshi inputted into the conversation.

Tsuna kept silent for a while. How was he supposed to answer that? "Psh. Of course not."

The two boys regarded Tsuna quietly. "Natsu, did you run away from home?"

"No?"

Ryohei frowned. "Why was that a question?"

"I don't know! I think I have to go now, bye!" Tsuna quickly stood up and tried to get out.

Takeshi and Ryohei placed a hand on each of his shoulders forcing him to sit back down.

"Natsu, you ran away from home?!" Takeshi asked, eyes wide.

"No . . . maybe . . . yes. But it was for a good reason!" Tsuna protested seeing the look in the others' eyes.

"Natsu, where are you staying? Are you living on the streets?" Ryohei asked with concern.

"What?! No! I'm staying at the Sky Hotel!" he replied indignantly.

"Isn't that extremely expensive?" Ryohei asked incredulously.

"I don't know. I haven't paid yet."

"Oh my god, Natsu, do you not have enough money to pay?!" Takeshi asked, a touch of worry for his new friend in his eyes.

"No, no, no. I have enough money!"

"Takeshi, I just remembered that this guy said he was from Europe!" Ryohei ran a hand over his face.

"Natsu, you ran away from home to another country?" Yamamoto asked, shocked.

"Well, technically speaking, yes, but as I said earlier there's a good reason for it!" Tsuna protested again. He was promptly ignored by the two, who only payed attention to the first part of what he said.

"Natsu can't live in a hotel forever! He needs to stay with someone or he'll run out of money!" Takeshi spoke.

"I was thinking that as well. I'd keep him in my house, but I'm not sure about my little sister. I don't like the thought of them staying together."

"Ah Kyoko. That could cause a problem. He could stay with me for a while. We can support him, and we have the room."

"So it's settled? He'll stay with you?"

"I'll have to ask my dad first, but I'm sure that he'll agree when he hears about the circumstances."

Tsuna looked at them in confusion. Why did he have no say in this? "Starting tomorrow, you'll be living with me, Natsu! I look forward to it!" Yamamoto smiled at him.

Eh? EH?! When Tsuna did think about it, he knew that his money, although hefty, wouldn't last forever. He was going to need to find a way to support himself, so he gave in.

"I wouldn't like to impose-"

Takeshi waved his hand. "It's fine. My dad has always wanted more children."

"A-are you sure?" Tsuna asked hesitantly.

"It's alright! Right dad?" Takeshi turned around to face his dad.

"Yup! Welcome to the family Natsu!" Uncle called out from behind the counter, waving a knife.

"There, all settled!" Takeshi smiled.

That was fast. Tsuna couldn't help but view his position in disbelief. Were the Japanese people always this friendly? Then Tsuna couldn't help but feel like he was missing something. He frowned as he tried to remember.

"Natsu, are you okay to the extreme?" Ryohei asked concerned. Natsu . . . NATSU!

"Shit!" Tsuna shouted, standing up quickly.

"What's wrong? Takeshi asked surprised.

"I lost my cat!"

"You lost your cat?"

"You took a cat with you when you ran away?"

"Yeah. His name is Natsu-"

There was silence, which was broken by Takeshi. "You named your cat after yourself?"

" . . . yes, but that's not important right now!"

"That's extreme! Where did you last see him?"

Tsuna shook his head. "The last time I saw him was at the hotel but I'm pretty sure that he left with me."

"Then we'll just go to all the places where you've gone! Right, senpai?" Takeshi answered.

Ryohei nodded his agreement as he dug for his wallet, placing a few bills on the table. Takeshi called out to his dad. "I'm going to go help Natsu look for his cat! I'll be back later!"

Tsuna watched them with surprise before he gave a grateful smile. "Thank you, you guys!" The three of them rushed out of the shop. They went to a clearing and traced their footsteps from there. "Why did we have to run so far?" Tsuna bemoaned. They walked past several shops when a familiar-looking shop caught Tsuna's attention. "I think that I went in here earlier."

"Natsu, what were you doing in a costume shop?" the darker-haired boy of the three asked curiously.

Tsuna gave a defensive look. "I felt like it."

Ryohei opened the door and called out, "Is anyone here, to the extreme?" The shop seemed deserted as the three of them filed in. Tsuna looked around the shop for any sign of the brunette assistant he had conversed with earlier and his cat.

A chicken costume began to move from the far side of the shop, coming closer. "Extreme! A giant chicken!" Ryohei's eyes glittered at the awesomeness of witnessing such an incredible thing.

"Natsu!" the chicken engulfed Tsuna in a hug.

"H-haru?" Tsuna was confused by the sudden hug.

"Haru knew that when Natsu said he'd come back that he'd come back, but Haru didn't know that Natsu would come back so fast! And Natsu brought friends!" The chicken looked over them with delight. Before any of the males could protest, the chicken forced them into various outfits. Somehow, Tsuna ended up in a prince costume, Yamamoto in a baseball uniform, and Ryohei in a suit. The chicken surveyed her handiwork. "Mhm! Haru knew that the prince uniform would suit Natsu the best!"

"Um, okay. Thanks?" Tsuna thanked, bewildered by the sudden turn of events before he remembered his original objective.

The chicken took off its head, revealing a young, brunette girl with her hair tied up in a bun. The beads of sweat forming on her forehead were quickly wiped away with her arm as she exited the costume. She began to fan herself. "Ah, Haru feels so hot!"

Takeshi pulled a baseball helmet off his head. "So your name is Haru?"

"Yup! I'm Miura Haru! Natsu's friend!" Haru smiled widely.

"Yamomoto Takeshi. Nice to meet you." He smiled widely. "I see you sometimes after school when I'm practicing for my club."

Haru hummed in acknowledgement. "That's why Haru gave you that outfit!"

"I'm Sasagawa Ryohei, to the extreme!" He pumped his fist into the air.

Her eyes widened in understanding. "You're Kyoko's brother! Tell Kyoko that I'll try out her new batch of cakes when I have some time."

"Extreme!"

Once the introductions were over, Tsuna felt he could interrupt. "Haru, have you seen a cat around here?"

"Ha-hi? How did you know?" she asked surprised.

"So you found him?"

"After you left, I found a cat wondering around my shop, so I put it in the backroom."

"Haru you're a life saver!" Tsuna smiled in relief.

Haru blushed a bit before turning away. "I'll go get him for you." She disappeared behind one of the doors before reappearing, holding Natsu in her arms.

"Natsu!" Tsuna picked him up, and the cat licked at his hands.

"Natsu?"

"Natsu extremely named his cat after himself!"

"Ha-hi?"

Natsu climbed onto Tsuna's shoulder and sat down, silently claiming the spot as his.

"Natsu, Haru is going to close the shop now."

"Ah, we'll be leaving now then!" Tsuna hurriedly bowed. "Thank you for finding my cat!"

Haru giggled. "That's fine Natsu! Don't lose him again!"

Tsuna gave a wry smile. "I'll try my best not to. Bye Haru."

"Bye bye!" She waved at them as they exited the store.

Yamamoto paused outside the shop. "I thought that when you said cat, you meant cat. This looks like a lion."

"Technically lions are cats." Tsuna let Natsu lick his finger.

"Takeshi, is it just me or is the lion-cat-thing on fire." Ryohei squinted at the cat-lion thing.

Tsuna's head shot up and he studied Ryohei for a few seconds. "You can see Natsu's flames?"

"Yes. For a moment I thought you were talking about yourself . . . that's going to get extremely confusing." Tsuna stayed silent for a while. Why could civilians see Natsu's flames? From their perspective, Natsu should have looked like an ordinary cat albeit a bit lion-ish. Tsuna had noticed slight sun flames around Ryohei when they had ran together, but he thought that it was just his imagination acting up. He looked at Ryohei with a scrutinising gaze. He could see, just beneath the skin, the glowing of sun flames. Well would you look at that. He began to wonder how they got activated.

"Is there something on my face?" Ryohei rubbed his mouth with his hand.

Tsuna shook his head. "Nope. Takeshi can you see flames as well?" Yamamoto nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I should be going back to the hotel now. Should I come by TakeSushi tomorrow morning?" Tsuna asked.

"Yup! But Natsu, are you really going to go back dressed like that?" Takeshi smiled and pointed his hand at Tsuna's clothes.

Tsuna looked down and his face began to slowly turn bright red. "HARU!"

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

After the embarrassing episode of being stuck in a prince costume for the rest of the day, Tsuna made it back to his hotel room, only leaving the next morning after ordering room service for his dinner last night. He then proceeded to pay for his room at the front desk and walked to the shopping district again, trying to remember the way back to TakeSushi.

Tsuna was standing outside the correct building with Natsu on his shoulder and a bag on his back when Takeshi looked out the window and saw him. Yamamoto ran down the stairs, ignoring his father's warning to not run, and opened the door to a surprised looking Tsuna. "Good morning Natsu!" Yamamoto smiled brightly at the other.

"G-good morning Takeshi!" greeted Tsuna shyly.

"Come on in!" Takeshi ushered Tsuna inside. "How long were you standing outside for? You should have knocked! "

"I was looking for a bell." Tsuna grinned sheepishly.

Yamamoto rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, we don't have one of those. Anyway, you'll be sleeping in my room! I'll show you were the spare futon is!" He dragged Tsuna up the stairs and to his room, ignoring his father's protest about running again.

The room was relatively normal sized. There was a bed at the far left corner with posters of baseball players plastered on the wall next it. The far right corner held a wardrobe with a baseball uniform hanging from it. Multiple stacks of magazines were in tidy piles under the window. "It's neater than I thought it would be," Tsuna commented, putting his bag down on the ground near the wardrobe.

"Mah mah, that's only because I cleaned it up last night." Takeshi scratched his cheek with a finger before sitting down on his bed. "The futon is in the cupboard we passed in the hallway. The bathroom is opposite it, just in case you need to use it soon." Yamamoto patted the space next to him and smiled as Tsuna took a seat next to him. "Dad said he'd give us today off since it's Sunday."

"Eh? That's great!" Tsuna smiled.

"Right?! Oh yeah, he told me to ask you if you wanted to enroll in school here."

"Hmm . . ." Tsuna thought about it for a moment. "That might be a good idea. It might be too suspicious of me not to be attending school."

"Well there's that, and if Hibari finds out that you don't go to school, he'll hunt you down."

"He's the Disciplinary Committee person, right?"

Takeshi looked surprised. "How did you know?"

"Ryohei told me about him."

"Whilst we're at it, would you like to enroll with Sawada Natsu as your name or use your real one?"

"Sawa—wait a moment. What?" Tsuna caught himself.

"I knew it! Natsu isn't your real name!" Yamamoto smiled gleefully.

Tsuna spluttered. "Wah? But how? Why?"

"I just couldn't understand why you'd name your cat after yourself, so I figured that Sawada Natsu is an alias! So, what's your real name? And why did you run away from home?" Takeshi sat forward eagerly.

"I can't tell you that." Tsuna replied.

Yamamoto looked at him with puppy dog eyes. "Please?"

Tsuna looked away. "N-no!"

"We're giving you a place to sleep and eat as well as enrolling you in school and you can't even tell us your real name?"

Tsuna felt his resolve crumble. " . . . fine, but you can't tell anyone!"

"Not even my dad?" Yamamoto questioned.

"I suppose you can tell him, but absolutely no one else!"

"I promise!" Yamamoto straightened up and Tsuna leaned backwards.

"My real name is Tsunayoshi Vongola. Here it would probably be Vongola Tsunayoshi, from what I know of Japanese culture. My friends call me Tsuna, or they would if I had any, so the only ones who called me Tsuna were my grandfather and dad. And a few of the maids and butlers-"

"Natsu you're rambling," Takeshi interrupted whilst pondering where he'd heard the word Vongola before.

Tsuna winced. "Sorry. Anyway, my grandfather is the head of . . . a large corporation. He's getting older, and I'm the only heir he has since my dad is the head of the external advisers for the corporation. The other potential heir is currently incapacitated. So, from the moment I was born, I've been told my role, and everything has been leading up to taking my grandfather's place as the Do- as the head."

"And what's wrong with that? It sounds like you have your whole life planned out already."

Tsuna frowned in frustration. "But, you see, that's exactly what I didn't like! I never got to make my own choices! No one ever asked me if I wanted to do it! I don't want to be the next head! I don't want someone else to choose my own future for me! I want to decide what happens for myself! I want to be in control for once instead of taking a backseat." Tsuna took a deep breath. "But that's not all. Everyone seems to have this strange misconception that I'm capable of running the business. They think that I'm smart and strong, but I'm not!"

Takeshi was silent. "So you decided to run away?"

"So I decided to run away," Tsuna repeated.

"Did you ever talk about it with your grandfather?"

"I would, but he's really stubborn and won't listen to anything I say!"

Takeshi repeated his question. "Did you try to talk about it with your grandfather?"

"Well, no, but I know that he wouldn't give me a choice anyway!"

Takeshi gave him a pointed look before sighing. "Well if that's what you think, it must be true."

Tsuna then began to doubt his actions. Maybe he should have tried harder to talk to his grandfather? Was he too impulsive with making his decisions?

"Natsu, or should I call you Tsuna?"

"You can call me Tsuna only when we're alone."

"So Tsuna, which country in Europe did come from?" Yamamoto asked with more than a hint or curiosity.

"I came from Italy. Sicily to be precise."

"That sounds nice. What was it like there?" Takeshi got a faraway look in his eyes.

Tsuna shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I've only gone to the town near the mansion, but it was small and there weren't many shops."

Yamamoto felt a wave of pity for the brunette sitting next to him. "So how did you spend your days then?"

"Mostly with my tutors or my grandfather doing things."

"Can you explain it in more detail?" Takashi smiled.

" _I'm sitting in a room made up of only big white walls and in the halls there are people looking through the window and the door. They know exactly what we're here for. Don't look up just let them think there's no place else you'd rather be."_

Yamamoto could imagine Tsuna in those circumstance and for some reason it made his heart twinge. Tsuna carried on with a hint of irritation.

" _You're always on display for everyone to watch and learn from. Don't you know by now you can't turn back because this road is all you'll ever have!"_

Tsuna dug his nails into his palms.

" _And it's obvious that you're dying, dying. Just living proof that the camera's lying and oh, oh open wide! 'Cause this is your night, so smile! 'Cause you'll go out in style!"_

The brunette stood up and leaned against the wall, looking out the window. Takeshi's eyes widened by a fraction as he swear he saw Tsuna's eyes flash orange.

" _If you let me I could. I'd show you how to build your fences. Set restrictions separate from the world. The constant battles that you hate to fight; just blame the limelight!"_

Yamamoto watched Tsuna closely. For some reason he felt like he could sort-of relate a bit. He found that more often than not, he was forcing himself to practice baseball.

" _Don't look up just let them think there's no place else you'd rather be in now. You can't turn back. Because this road is all you'll ever have!"_

He loved the sport, yes, but his teammates were starting to put a lot of pressure on him to always pitch well and hit homeruns or out of the parks. Baseball used to be fun. Playing with his 'friends' used to be fun.

" _And it's obvious that you're dying, dying. Just living proof that the camera's lying and oh, oh open wide! This is you're night, so smile! Because you'll go out in style."_

They stayed silent for a while before the door opened, and Yamamoto's dad stuck his head in. "I hope that you two don't plan to stay inside the whole day. Takeshi, show Natsu around town. Natsu, have you decided whether or not you wanted to go to school yet?"

"Yes, Uncle! I decided that I'd like to enroll in Nami-High." Tsuna smiled at the man.

"I'll give you the papers when you come back. That way you can fill in the parts that I can't."

"Thank you, Uncle!"

"Don't worry about it kid. Now, both of you better exit this room by the time I count to ten or both of you'll be helping me the whole day. No breaks." The two teenagers scrambled for the door.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

 _ **Meanwhile ~ In Italy ~**_

Nono tapped his fingers impatiently as he waited for someone to report back to him. Where the hell was Tsuna? He hadn't seen Tsuna all of yesterday, but he had assumed that, since it was the boy's last day of freedom, he'd chosen to spend it outside. Yet he hadn't returned for any meals, so all the guards were on high alert.

After growing impatient, he stood up and made his way to Tsuna's room. A quick survey of the room— the open windows and lack of clothes—told him everything that he needed to know. Nono turned to the butler posted outside the door. "Get me Reborn on the line. My grandson had been kidnapped." After all, he knew his grandson better than anyone else. He was strong and smart, so there was no way he would have ran away. The only other option left was that he was kidnapped.

He walked to his study and sat down in the plush chair, picking up the phone the butler in that room handed him. "Reborn?"

In an old apartment building in Rome, a tall man wearing a suit and fedora leaned his back against an expensive-looking recliner. "That is what I have been called."

"This is no time for jokes. I need you on a recovery mission." Nono tapped his fingers on his desk once again, listening to the dull, wood-like sound it made.

"That can be arranged." The fedora-wearing man, now dubbed Reborn, twirled a green shotgun in his free hand. "For a price."

"I'll pay you triple the usual amount if you can get this person to me unharmed." Nono spoke through his teeth.

Now that caught Reborn's attention. Not double, but triple? That usually meant that the target was very important. He sat up straighter, pressing the phone against his ear. "And who is it you want?"

"Between two days ago and today, my grandson had been kidnapped."

Reborn stopped twirling the gun. "You don't say?"

"I want you to get him safely back to me. I don't care what you do to his kidnappers."

The fedora-wearing man frowned. "If you don't know who kidnapped him, then how are you so sure that he didn't run away?"

Nono laughed. "I think I know my grandson. Tsunayoshi isn't the type of person to run away. I'll send you a picture of him later if you accept the job."

Reborn frowned, not entirely happy with that response but letting it slide. "Do you have any other information regarding this, such as the reason the assault was carried out or who you think did it?"

"Next week Tsunayoshi was meant to inherit my role as Vongola Don. News may have leaked out, and other families might have acted."

So investigating the other families would be part of it, but there was something that itched at Reborn. "Why did you hire me? I'm a professional hitman, and a notorious one at that. Wouldn't someone else be more suited?"

"I can't trust anyone else to get the job done right. I don't want someone who can easily be bribed in handing over my grandson to another family as hostage."

"I suppose if I were in your shoes, I'd do the same. I accept the job."

"Good. How long will it take?"

"Depending on what happens, I'd say a week at most. The funds can be deposited into my account after I've completed the job."

Nono gave a dry laugh. "Of course."

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

 **A/N**

 **Hi again! Now, I know that I have a bad habit of starting stories and not finishing them, but I feel pretty confident that for this one I'll be able to!**

 **So, since the pairings are undecided yet, I'll be a having a vote about who you want Tsuna to end up with! Anyone counts as an option, even if they haven't appeared in the story yet, such as Gokudera or Enma.**

 **Normally, my chapters are around six pages each, so I surprised myself when I wrote twenty-two pages for this one. I'll try to keep them around the same length, but it'll probably be more inconsistent and the time it takes to write a chapter would be a lot longer than it normally is.**

 **Anyway follow, favourite and review please!**

 **~ Limina**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer – If I had the money T_T**

 **Thank you to RainbowMaze for betaing this chapter as well!**

 **This chapter along with the previous one will be edited again late to take out the songs. From the chapters after this one, they should be completely void of songs! (I think)**

 **Don't forget to leave a review on who you want Tsuna to end up!**

Chapter Two

Tsuna fidgeted nervously with the strap of his bag on the way to school. Yamamoto had kindly lent him his old uniform and all the other school necessities. "Natsu! Are you listening to me?"

Tsuna snapped his head up. "Um, sorry. I zoned out." A pink blush started to form on his face.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Well, what I was saying was that I hope we're in the same class!"

"M-me too." They approached the school gates, and the gravity-defying haired boy began to slow down.

"Is this what a school looks like?"

Yamamoto gave him a look of surprise before laughing again. "I forgot that you've never been to school. Cries of pain garnered their attention, so they turned towards the source. There was a black-haired boy with a red armband on his arm, beating up another student with a pair of tonfas.

"Is that allowed?" Tsuna asked curiously, wincing with every hit the boy on the ground received.

Yamamoto opened his mouth to reply before he paused. "You know what, I'm not sure. Anyway that's Hibari-senpai."

Tsuna's eyes widened slowly in recognition. "That's the guy that Brother Ryohei was talking about."

"Yeah. The kid that he's beating up probably broke the rules or did something to make him mad."

The brown haired boy let out a shiver and made a mental note to avoid the prefect. They joined the other students in avoiding the one-sided fight and entered the school. Yamamoto lead Tsuna to the front office where they processed his files and, much to both of the teens' delight, found out that they were in the same class.

The two were outside rows of lockers when Tsuna's nervousness had decided to spring up. "What if none of them like me?" he panicked.

"Natsu—no, Tsuna. They don't even know you yet, but of course they're going to like you!" Yamamoto smiled.

The boy gave him a stricken look. "How can you be so sure?"

The baseball boy shrugged and grinned at the boy beside him as he leaned against his locker. "Just trust me Tsuna." A girl with orange hair walked past, drawing his attention. "Here, I'll help you make a friend." He gave Tsuna another grin before calling out the girl's name loudly. "Kyoko!"

The orange-haired girl paused and turned to Yamamoto. Her companion, a girl with long, dark hair, stopped as well and threw the baseball player a dead look before whispering something to the orange-haired girl. The orange-haired girl shook her head in return, causing the girl with the dark hair to roll her eyes heavenward before they walked over to them.

"Good morning Yamamoto!" the short, orange-haired girl smiled brightly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She turned to face Tsuna next. "I don't think I've seen you here before. My name is Sasagawa Kyoko."

Tsuna, who was previously taken in by the girl's cute looks, started at her name. "Sasagawa? Are you Brother Ryohei's sister?" he blurted out without thinking. The dark-haired girl narrowed her eyes at him, and Tsuna felt a chill creep up his spine.

Kyoko's eyes widened. "You know my brother?"

Tsuna scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Yeah, we met yesterday, and he . . . helped me out, I suppose." He shot a look to Yamamoto, who quickly stepped in.

"Today is Tsu-Natsu's first day of school, and he's pretty nervous, so I thought that maybe you guys could help him calm down."

The dark-haired girl flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I don't help monkeys. Kyoko, let's go."

"Hana!" Kyoko shot her friend an appalled look. "I apologise for my friend's rudeness. Of course we'd like to help . . . Natsu, was it?"

Tsuna quickly stuck his hand out. "Natsu Sawada- I mean Sawada Natsu . . . I think." The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes, and Yamamoto's smile widened at Tsuna's gesture.

"Natu's from Italy, and apparently there, when you introduce yourself, instead of bowing, you hold hands!"

Tsuna gave him an alarmed look. "Takeshi, that's not quite right-"

Kyoko's eyes sparkled. "That's so cool." She grabbed his hand and held it tightly, giving him a smile. "You're from Italy?"

"Um, yeah." Tsuna tried hard not to blush at the fact that a girl was holding his hand for the first time. He failed terribly with his face quickly turning into a tomato. "You can let go now." Kyoko blinked at his face and couldn't help but wonder why she felt some regret when she let go of the boy's hand.

Hana scowled at the series of events. "Kyoko, let's go. It's not like this is the monkey's first day of school in his life. And he has a baseball monkey to help him as well."

Yamamoto's eyes twinkled at this. "Natu's been home-schooled for all his life. So technically this _is_ the first day of school ever for him."

Kyoko's eyes sparkled again, and she stared at the uncomfortable-looking brown-haired boy. "What made you go to school?"

Tsuna shifted his weight nervously. "I felt like it?"

"What made you want to come to Nanimori?" Kyoko questioned.

"Um, I can't tell you that?" he looked at her uneasily.

"Where are you staying right now?"

"Takeshi's place." The said boy nodded at this.

"So you're staying here without your family?" Tsuna nodded wishing she would stop asking such questions.

"Why?"

"I can't tell you that," he said softly.

Hana snorted at the spineless monkey in front of her. "He's not going to tell you anymore than he's already said. We should go to class before the bell rings and Hibari-senpai comes." She then proceeded to drag her orange-haired friend away with her.

The bell rang shortly after and the two boys exchanged scared looks. Tsuna because he was about to start school, and Takeshi because the demon prefect would kill them for not being in class yet. They rushed to class with Yamamoto leading the way and Tsuna following behind. The teacher stood in the doorway, waiting expectantly with a sneer on his face.

"Yamamoto, you're late." The boy just ducked his head as he entered the class, getting away from the snarky teacher and heading to his seat, feeling a little bit guilty about abandoning Tsuna. The teacher pushed his glasses farther up on his nose and crossed his arms in front of his unfashionable brown suit. "Being late on your first day of school, Sawada? Not a good start. I'm you're teacher. You may address me as Nezu-sensei."

The glasses-wearing teacher turned to address the classroom. "Everyone, we have a new student joining us from now on. I'll let him introduce himself," he drawled before gesturing for Tsuna to go to the middle of the room.

Hesitantly, Tsuna entered the classroom, scanning the sea of faces for those that he recognised. He spotted Yamamoto in the middle of the left hand side, and, on the right hand near the front, he recognised the two girls he saw earlier sitting together. "My name is Sawada Natsu. I hope we all get along?" He gave a faint smile and tried to swallow his fear.

"Sit wherever there's an open desk." Nezu-sensei gave a dismissing gesture with his hand as he waved Tsuna away.

Tsuna walked to a spare spot at the back he'd spotted earlier and put his things down. He gave a smile to his seatmate as he sat down and faced the board.

Nezu-sensei began to drone on about his expertise and his brilliance, and Tsuna felt his eyes get heavier with every boring word. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, and he could feel the sleepiness start to overwhelm him. He rested his head on his hand and let out a yawn as he fought to stay awake.

Yamamoto watched with a small smile as Tsuna's head slipped off his hand and landed on the desk.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Reborn tipped his fedora to shade his eyes as he processed what he had received. His intel network had reported that the Vongola Decimo wasn't at any of the main mafia houses, and he couldn't help but feel more inclined to think that maybe the boy wasn't kidnapped like Nono had suspected.

Reborn strode to his kitchen, where he began to make himself an espresso. He still had six days, so he wasn't really worried about the deadline at the moment. He sipped the hot beverage and let out a sigh as the taste filled his mouth.

Reborn strolled over to the computer, placed the mug of coffee down next to the device, and started hacking into the Vongola security system for the security camera footage of the day the Vongola Decimo was last seen. (Of course he could have just asked for the footage he wanted, but that wasn't really Reborn's style.)

He narrowed his eyes as he watched the Vongola Decimo enter his room. There weren't any camera's placed inside, so he switched to one operating outside of the house and watched the two different cameras. Movement from the second one caught his attention, and he watched a figure scale down the side of the building quickly.

Reborn frowned. Didn't anyone bother to check the security footage before? It was obvious that he left on his own accord. He brought the mug up to his lips as he tapped his fingers thoughtfully. He could report this to Nono but that would mean that he would mostly likely not get paid.

Although money didn't mean much to Reborn, he had a sense of pride to follow anything through to the end. It wasn't like him to do anything half-hearted. Another smirk made its way onto Reborn's face. He did promise that he'd bring back the Vongola Decimo, and that he will.

He tracked the heir to an airport near the Italian house before hacking the security camera footage of the only airport in Namimori, Japan to make sure that the heir really did disembark there. He started tugging on his fedora, his mind deep in thought. He rapidly finished his coffee and stood up.

It seemed like he had to pay a visit to a particular Namimori. Something tickled at the back of his mind, and he frowned.

Namimori.

Reborn's eyes widened unperceivably. Wasn't that the place where the CEDEF's wife was located? His eyes narrowed. As far as he knew, the boy wasn't aware where his mother was located. Coincidence? Fate? Reborn quickly scoffed at the thought. He didn't believe in fate.

The case of Tsunayoshi Vongola was an interesting one. Reborn couldn't stop his lip from twitching upwards into a smirk even if he wanted to.m twitching upward into a smirl his lip from twitching upward into a smirl

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

A silver-haired teen lounged on a plush chair, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he stared unimpressed at the man that sat across from him. "Hayato, I've been very lenient with you the past few years, but enough is enough." The middle-aged man clasped his hands together.

The teenager looked at the man through his lashes. "Father, what have I done wrong?" There was a false innocence in his voice, and the older man felt his patience run short.

"You know exactly what you've done wrong!"

The teen frowned. "It's not like it's any of your business. Don't pretend now that you care."

The older man felt his son's words pierce him in his heart and felt a twinge of regret. He had known that what he had done was wrong, but that was in the past and there was nothing he could do about it now. He looked over at his son, and he saw what his flesh and blood had become due to his actions. But this was no time to be weak. He reinforced his resolve and gave the silver-haired teen a hardened look. As if the boy sensed the change in atmosphere, he sat up a bit straighter unconsciously. "Hayato, tomorrow I'll be sending you to a mafia school."

Hayato's eyes widened, but he quickly brushed off his surprise. His father continued. "It's a boarding school, which means that you'll only get to come back home on the holidays. It'll teach you all kinds of things that you need to know like how to defend yourself and protect your Don. That sort of stuff. "

The boy's silver hair covered his eyes, mouth in a thin line and his expression unreadable to his father. Hayato's father waited for a moment, expecting the boy to react. The silence was more unnerving than anything the boy could have said.

Hayato snorted and lifted his head high enough for the man to see the dead-looking green eyes beneath. "Of course you would send me away. You don't know how to deal with me. I'm just a _bastard_ son to you anyway."

His father recoiled. "That was never my intention! We both know how much of a genius you are! I thought that maybe the regular civilian system of education wasn't stimulating enough for you since you get into so much trouble yet have perfect grades! But it's exactly that trouble that you get into which makes me get so many reports! You've been ditching class to smoke on the roof and partying late every night with strangers. For all I know, you're probably not even a virgin anymore! Hayato, you're only sixteen for God's sake! You're practically throwing away your future!"

"I don't care! You've never given two shits about me before, and now you act as if you've suddenly become my father!"

The man pointed his finger at his son. "Don't raise your voice at me like that!"

"I'll raise my voice however the fuck I want to!" Hayato glared in response.

"Listen here young man! I've been very lenient to you, but now you've got to stop! I'm locking you up in here until you learn some manners!"

Hayato spat at his father's feet. "I wish I was never born! Then I wouldn't have to deal with this!"

"Fine! I wish you'd never been born as well!" He shouted, temper rising. By the time he registered what he had just said, it was already too late. Hayato's face had closed off. "No, I didn't mean that. Hayato-"

"Get out." The silver-haired boy's fist shook slightly.

"Hayato-"

"GET OUT!" His green eyes blazed as he watched his father open his mouth again before closing it and walking out. With a hesitant backwards glance, he slammed the door. The sound of the click was audible in the silent room as the teen got locked in.

His eyes blinked furiously with unshed tears. How had it ended up like this? He leaned back against the chair and looked up at the crème-coloured celling. His eyes traced the vine patterns scattered across the ceiling as he recalled every major moment that led to this day.

The day when he found out that his dead piano teacher was his mom.

The day when he realised that he was a bastard.

The day when he figured out that he no longer belonged in this family or with Bianchi.

The day when he broke for the first time.

A tear silently made its way down his cheek, soon followed by another and another and another.

Why was he even alive? Was there some purpose he had to carry out? Did anybody need him? Should he end it all now?

The last thought scared him. He didn't want to die, but he didn't want to keep on living through this pain. What could he do? Was there anything he _could_ do?

Would anyone help him?

He reached up to touch his cheek and stared at the tears on his fingers. At how the light reflected off of them.

Would anyone save him?

A laugh bubbled up out of his throat. His voice was hoarse, but he kept on laughing. He considered the thought that if anyone were to come in right now they'd think him insane.

When had he become so weak that he would now need someone to save him?

He stopped laughing and sighed, turning his head to his right. There was a piano in the joining room. _Ah_ _. . . That's right_ _. . .This was where I used to practice._

He'd quit that years ago. He'd vowed never to play the piano again because of that incident. But still, he couldn't help giving the ivory keys a longing look before turning to face the other direction where a window gave a view of the yard. The reflection of the piano was showing on the glass surface, and he couldn't help but grit his teeth in annoyance before closing his eyes to the world.

It was so suffocating. The expectations that he was told to uphold. He couldn't say that he didn't enjoy breaking them. But what was left? What was he going to do now? What's his purpose in life?

" _I feel a little lost in this world. I try a little noise and choke."_ His voice sounded raspy even to himself. _"I've honestly never felt this alone. Oh, I just need someone."_

He snapped his eyes open. There he went again. Thinking that someone would save him. Hayato knew that thought was wrong. In this kind of world the only person you can rely and trust is yourself.

He stood up and walked to the window and unlatched it. _"I've been through and seen a lot. I've lived at the bottom and the top."_ He looked down at the ground. The jump was manageable. There would be no guards around since his father doesn't bother to hire any for the house. He stepped on the ledge and jumped, bracing himself as he landed on his hand and bent knees.

He dusted his hands and looked up at the open window before turning away. Who would run after him anyway?

" _We're on borrowed time, but time isn't enough. I'm just trying to be, the best me I can be. When I fall down, it's just me and the ground."_

He would throw away everything. He ran out of the gates and into the streets, his feet hitting the pavement in a rhythmic thudding pattern. He would throw away his reputation: being known as the king of partying and Hurricane-Bomb Hayato. He was tired of always having to play a role. First, being a model son, and then, a rebellious teenager. When would he be able to find out who he truly is on his own?

" _I am no King. I have no throne."_

He reached the port of the town and made his way to the ships that went overseas. He had only taken a couple of steps when he paused. Bianchi. Under all the layers and masks of hate that he had shown towards her, he still loved her in a brotherly way. He knew that she knew that as well. He shook his head forcefully. Hesitation was a sign of weakness. If he was so unresolved right now then he'd get nowhere. Just a few more meters and he'd be free from everything.

" _I need a little room to breathe! You're making this harder for me! When all I need is to be set free! I need a little time to think! And if you really ever loved me! Then all I need is a little room to breathe!"_

He talked to the Captain for one of the ships—he'd chosen to travel on what looked to be a cruise ship—and although reluctant about hiring a random teenager, agreed that in exchange for his services he'd get free travel to a place called Namimori, food, and a bed since several of his crew had succumbed to a cold and couldn't make it. The ship set sail two hours later, and Hayato found himself seeing Italy as just a pinprick in the distance.

"Hayato! Stop daydreaming! I'm not paying you for no reason!" the captain called.

The silverette shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Technically, sir, you're not paying me."

The captain waved a hand at the boy. "Stop being cheeky or you won't be getting any supper tonight."

That shut Hayato up as he went back to his job, offering a passer-by a flute of champagne.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Tsuna didn't know quite what happened. One second he was in Nezu-sensei's class, the next second he was back in his room in the Vongola mansion. Was him leaving just a dream?

He exited the door and began to walk to his grandfather's study. After he turned the corner, he couldn't help but feel unsettled. There was no one around. Why was there no one around? There was a tugging motion in his gut. He frowned at the strange sensation before turning and walking back the way he had come, letting the strange feeling lead him.

He had lived at the mansion for all his life, and he thought he knew where everything was. It therefore came as a surprise to him when he emerged in an unrecognizable corridor. The walls, although dated, looked new. An old-fashioned crimson carpet winded along the hallway before stopping before a big wooden door.

His gut tugged again, as if urging him to continue on. He walked towards the door and, upon reaching it, opened it, twisting the metal knob with slightly shaking hands. He peered into the room cautiously.

The room was quite spacious; the walls were painted a light beige, and the floor was an orange colour, looking similar to the one in the corridor. There was a window by what looked to be a wooden cabinet, which had paper falling out of it and scattered messily on top. There was a desk in the middle of the room made out of the same wood used to make the cabinet, but what drew his attention to it was the person sitting behind it.

The man was blond, with hair as gravity-defying as his own brown locks. He was wearing a black, pin-striped suit with a matching black mantle, and his eyes were the colour of the sky on a sunny day. Tsuna blinked at the sight of them before realising that they were trained on his own. The blond man opened his mouth, and Italian words filled the air. "Who are you?"

Tsuna opened his mouth to reply before the scene before him disappeared. He found himself back in the classroom at Namimori with a very angry-looking teacher towering before him.

Nezu-sensei looked down at the now awake boy, his irritation at him aggravating him to no end. "If you so choose to sleep during my class, you can find yourself speaking to the Disciplinary Committee!"

Tsuna looked at him with dazed, sleepy eyes, not fully comprehending what the angry teacher in front of him was saying. "Okay," the brunette agreed unconsciously.

Nezu-sensei gave him a dead look. "Impudent student. I'll have you know that, as someone who's graduated from Tokyo University with flying colours, not trying in class will get you nowhere in the future. You'll end up being a failure with no job and no food. You'd be no better than a wild animal."

The brunette looked at him with wide eyes. He could feel the irritation at the situation and his embarrassment at being ridiculed in front of the class fuel the anger inside him, causing his to speak his next words without thinking.

"Excuse me?" his eyes flashed a brilliant orange. "Aren't you meant to be a teacher? Isn't it your job to, I don't know, help us? I don't think that calling us wild animals can be considered very helpful, or is that just how teachers here in Japan are? How did you even get a teaching licence?"

The teacher pushed his glasses to the top of nose. "I'll have you know that I graduated from the prestigious _Tokyo University_ with _flying colours_. I will not tolerate my students-"

Tsuna interpreted him with a frown on his face. "That makes even less sense! What would someone who graduated from Tokyo University be doing teaching high school students? Surely there was a better job that required your skillset you could have gotten that would have paid more than the average teacher's salary."

Nezu-sensei felt himself start to break out in a cold sweat before his irritation at the student seeped through him. _How dare the student speak to me like this!_

Yamamoto casted his worried eyes between the two of them. What was TsunaNatsu doing?! nd h corridor doing?! It would have been better if he had just accepted the punishment, but now it looked like there was more than just Nezu-sensei's pride on the line. All the same, he could see the truth and reason behind his words. Yamamoto was a nice guy, and, as much as he disliked his teacher, he didn't believe that Tsuna should be getting into a fight with him on his first day of school.

"Nezu-sensei!" Everyone's eyes drew to the baseball player. "Natsu's been home-schooled all his life so he doesn't know proper high school conduct, especially because this is his first time in Japan since he came from Italy! Please forgive him for all the things he's been saying! Ha-ha!"

A pregnant silence filled the room. Students cast their eyes between Tsuna, Nezu-sensei, and Yamamoto. Then the whispers broke out, growing louder with every second.

"Sawada's a foreigner?!"

"He had almost no accent when he spoke Japanese. I had no idea!"

"He must be so smart that he didn't need to pay attention in the first place! You know, since he's flawless in Japanese!"

"I bet you he was such a trouble maker at his home that his parents sent him here to be reformed!"

"EH?! Is that true?!"

Tsuna watched with wide eyes as the noise level rose. The teacher stared down at him with an impassive gaze before walking back to the front of the classroom. The brunette felt his body tremble as he shut his eyes. What had just happened? What was he doing? Now the class was going to get the wrong idea about him, and rumours would spread around the school! Since when did he become a smart delinquent who was sent here to be reformed?

Through his thoughts, he could faintly hear a bell ringing. When he felt hands cover his trembling ones, his eyes flashed open. "Y-Yamamoto?" He grimaced in mortification at how high his voice sounded.

"It's Takeshi, remember? Anyway it's lunch now, we should go before the others rush over here."

Tsuna nodded and blindly followed the grinning boy up several flights of stairs. He found himself at the roof of the school. He cautiously looked around, taking in the view of the overlooking school yard. "Are you sure we're allowed to be here? There's no one else around."

Yamamoto laughed. "That's because Hibari's here."

"Hibari?" Tsuna's eyebrows shot to his hairline. The Demon Prefect that Brother Ryohei was talking about? A cold metal object was pressed against his neck, causing him to jump in surprise and let out a squeal. "HIEEE!"

Yamamoto looked at Tsuna in surprise, not expecting the girlish sound that came out of his mouth. Tsuna's cheeks reddened and he put a hand on his mouth. How very . . . cute.

"Herbivores are prohibited from entering the rooftop," a voice from behind the brunette stated coldly.

Tsuna spun around and looked at the boy. A black jacket hung over his shoulders with a red armband attached to it. In his hands, he gripped two tonfas, one still threateningly close to Tsuna's head. But what caught the brunette's attention the most was the yellow ball of fluff singing some song from the top of Hibari's head. Tsuna stared intensely at the bird. There was a name for it, he was sure, but he couldn't help but think-

"Hibird."

There was a moment of silence where the two dark-haired boys stared at the smaller one.

Oops. He'd accidently said the name out loud.

The prefect held out his finger, and the yellow ball of fluff jumped onto it. "Hibird! Hibird!"

"Herbivore," Hibari gave him a rare incredulous look, "did you just name my bird?"

"Eh?! Um, I don't know?" Tsuna stuttered out.

The dark-haired prefect readied his tonfas. "I'll bite you to death."

"HIEE!"

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Gokudera Senior hadn't expected that, when he'd enter the room he'd locked his Hayato in, he'd find it very much Hayato-less. Shock had set in, and then panic. Where was his son? It was at that moment, in the middle his panicking, that his butler told him they'd received a summons from Vongola Nono for a mandatory meeting for everyone in the Vongola Alliance.

He'd pushed the search of his missing son to the members of the household as he made his way to the Vongola mansion. He wasn't the first one to arrive nor the last, but what unnerved him the most was Timeoto's expression, although seemingly composed, was very much like his own. Had something happened?

The present Vongola Boss opened his mouth. "Is everyone here?"

The general whispering around the room stopped and several heads shook.

"The Bovino Don isn't here yet," a male in his early twenties observed. Gokudera Senior's memory placed him as the young boss of the Cavallone Famiglia.

Timeoto nodded. "I think that we best start now. The Bovino Don can catch up later. I've called you all here as my grandson, Tsunayoshi, has gone missing. I fear that he has been kidnapped."

Gokudera Senior felt his stomach drop at hearing those words.

"I would like your assistance in his safe retrieval from enemy hands. I've already sent Reborn on his case, but I would like this support as a backup." There was muttering around the room. It was rare and unusual for a mafia don to share a weakness with other famiglia. It has lead to many previous downfalls of many great houses in the past. Then again, Vongola itself was an enigma; what was a vigilante group in the beginning was now the biggest mafia famiglia in all of Italy.

Gokudera-senior cleared his throat. "Timeoto, how long has Tsunayoshi been missing?"

Nono spared a look at the man. "He's been reported missing since yesterday, but it's suspected that he was gone two days prior."

"This may be completely unrelated, but my son has also gone missing." Although he was sure that Hayato had run away, this meeting had sowed the seed of doubt in his mind. There was a hush that went over the group, which was quickly broken by the sound of the wooden door being slammed open. A man with curly hair walked in, muttering an apology about being late while closing the door with the back of his foot.

"Bovino. How nice of you to finally join us." Nono acknowledged him with a tilt of his head.

"Yare, yare. There was trouble back at the base. Lambo, my son, has gone missing." There was an absolute silence that covered the room like a blanket.

A few days later, it was all the news in the Underground that mafia heirs were going missing. All legible heirs were now kept locked up tight in their bases under the highest security that their famiglias could afford.

Reborn, always caught up on any new happenings in the Underground, heard about this series of events quickly. He couldn't help looking heavenward at the stupidity of mankind.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Tsuna winced as he prodded the inside of his cheek with his tongue. All he remembered was getting whacked in the face by a metal tonfa before waking up in the infirmary with a painful bruise on his cheek. (He had a vague suspicion of how it got there, but wasn't bothered enough by it to ask Yamamoto.)

The brunette couldn't help but feel slightly depressed. He had spent most of his first day at school sleeping in the nurse's office. He wanted to weep, but, when Yamamoto came and picked him up from the nurse's office and told him nonchalantly that the class thought he was skipping because he didn't want to be taught by the teacher, it was all he could do not to stuff his face in the smelly antiseptic-smelling pillow and cry.

He opted instead to let out a moan of distress and cradled his head in his hands as Yamamoto patted his back with a laugh and led him out of the room to guided him home.

Tsuna prodded the inside of his cheek harder, accidently, at the thought. Since when had he begun to refer to Yamamoto's house as home? He flinched at the sudden influx of pain, catching Yamamoto's attention.

"Are you okay Tsuna? Are you sure that you don't want to put some ice on it? I'll go get some ice." The dark-haired boy quickly began to get up, but Tsuna's hand grabbed onto the back of his shirt and pulled him back down to the bedroom floor.

"I-It's fine! It looks worse than it actually feels!" He waved his hand in random gestures.

Yamamoto gave him another guilty look and couldn't help but feel that it was his fault for accidently leading Tsuna to Hibari, thus resulting in him getting the mottled-looking bruise on Tsuna's otherwise cute face.

Natsu gave a small groan as one of Tsuna's random gestures hit the top of his head. "Ah, sorry Natsu!" the brunette hugged Natsu closer to his chest and relaxed as the cub gave a rumbling purr.

"For a moment I thought that you were talking about yourself, ha-ha." Yamamoto stopped laughing as he remembered something. "What does Natsu eat? I've just realised that we've never bought him food. He must be starving!"

Tsuna watched with a deadpan expression as Yamamoto began to act anxious again. "He doesn't need to eat. He's a . . . _unique_ breed."

"Woah! He doesn't need to eat? Wait, is it even a breed of cat? Was it a solar-powered robot this whole time?!" Yamamoto's eyes were as wide as saucers as he looked at Tsuna for an explanation.

"Uh . . ." There was no way he was going to tell Takeshi that Natsu feeds on his flames. That would be breaking omerta, and then he'd have to deal with the Vindice. "Sure." The brunette ignored the reproachful look that Natsu gave him. "Anyway, during class I had a really strange dream!" Tsuna quickly changed the topic.

"Yeah? What happened?"

Tsuna frowned and leaned against the edge of Yamamoto's bed. "I was back in my house in Italy, and I was in my room. When I went outside, there was no one there. Something in my gut led me through several hallways, and I don't know if this was because it was a dream, but I got lost. Like there was a corridor that I've never seen before. Then, I opened the door to a room where another person was in."

Yamamoto watched Tsuna's face carefully. "Who was it?"

Tsuna gave a shrug. "I'm not sure. But they looked pretty familiar. I wonder where I've seen him before . . ."

"Maa, maa. Don't think too hard about it. It's only a dream!"

The brunette nodded, and the dream was quickly forgotten as Tsuyoshi came in and told the boys to help out with the shop.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Gokudera was _not_ having fun. Everything was going great—the customers liked him and he did his job well—before that _thing_ appeared.

It didn't take long for the silver-haired teen to recognise the kid in cow print and start to make a beeline in the opposite direction, trying to get away from the loud child as inconspicuously as possible. But, of course, fate hated him.

"GYHAHAHA! THE MIGHTY LAMBO HAS FOUND THE STUPID-DERA!"

Just ignore him. Maybe he'll go away? Gokudera offered another glass to a lady who gratefully accepted.

"Whose child is that? What bad manners they've taught him."

"Is that a cow?"

When a grubby hand grabbed his black slacks, he knew that his hopes were immediately dashed. Was there no God in this world?

The silver-haired teen gave his harshest glare at the kid and couldn't help feel a the stab of annoyance as the cow brat didn't even flinch under it. "Bovino. What are you doing here?"

The child smirked and placed his hands on his hips, feet spread apart. "The great and mighty Lambo was taking a walk at the beach when he saw the octopus-haired pianist go aboard a boat. Of course, the great and mighty Lambo wanted to come too, so the great and mighty Lambo decided to follow the Stupid-Dera! Gyahahaha! Isn't the great and mighty Lambo so smart?!"

Gokudera resisted the urge to face-palm. "Are you fucking kidding me?! Where were your guards?"

"The great and mighty Lambo left them behind!"

Gokudera took in a deep breath. "Okay, whatever. You're not my responsibility anyway. Do what you want, just don't bring me into your problems."

The child in the cow suit looked up at the older teen with a pout. The only reason that he had gone with the silver-haired teen was because he had noticed him acting suspicious.

"Neh, neh! Tako-head-"

"Don't call me that!"

"- why are you here anyway?" the child looked up curiously.

"None of your business!"

The dark curly-haired child looked up with tears in his eyes due to the tone the older teen used. "Got . . . to . . . stay . . . calm . . . WAHH!"

Gokudera gave a horrified look as Lambo took the Ten Year Bazooka out of his afro and launched it at himself. Pink smoke soon covered the floor and, where the cow brat used to be, now stood a young man in his teens sporting a cow print jacket with wavy-curly hair.

"Yare, yare. What has my younger self done this time?" a slightly deep voice asked as dark eyes met with green.

"Brother Hayato?"

"Do I know you?" the silver-haired teen asked rudely.

"Or not . . . well, you probably do. My younger self just used the Ten Year Bazooka, which you've probably heard about, that allows you to swap places with yourself ten years in the future, but only for five minutes."

"That would mean . . ." Gokudera trailed off.

"Pleasure to meet you Hayato Gokudera; my name is Lambo Bovino from ten years in the future."

Gokudera studied the teen before him. "How is time travel even possible?!"

Ten-years-later Lambo shrugged. "I don't know. You should ask the Bovino technicians. Anyway, before my time runs out, there's something I'd like to ask of you."

Raising an eyebrow, Gokudera nodded. "What?"

"My younger self tends to get into all sorts of trouble and mischief. If it isn't asking too much, could you look out for him?"

Gokudera let out an insufferable sigh. "I'll see what I can do."

Lambo cracked a smile as one eyelid drooped down. "Much obliged. Big Brother Tsuna would be so proud of you." Pink smoke engulfed his figure and, suddenly, the younger version of Lambo was back.

 _Who's Big Brother Tsuna?_ Gokudera shook the thought away and focused his attention on Lambo. The sound of the captain's voice soon broke him from his thoughts.

"There have been complaints of loud noises! What's going on? Whose child is this?"

The silver-haired boy straightened up. "Don't worry, I've already taken care of the situation! And this child followed me here, but I'll take full responsibility for him!" He did promise the Future-Lambo that he'd take care of his younger self, and Gokudera wasn't one who went back on his word.

The captain gave him a levelled look. "One more mishap and you and your friend are getting kicked off, _even if we're in the middle of the sea_. Understood?"

"Understood!"

The Captain walked off, and Gokudera couldn't help but let out a sigh. He looked at the cow brat, who was munching on what looked like purple candy, and couldn't help but sigh again.

Just what exactly had he signed up for?

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

A man sauntered over to the luggage claim at Namimori Airport, his fedora tipped forward to shade enough of his face so only the slight curve on his lips would show. His black suit stood out from the majority of passengers wearing common and inexpensive clothing, attracting a few to openly stare at him, enamoured by his good looks.

When a familiar luggage came rolling, he effortlessly lifted it up and made his way out of the airport, lips twitching back up into a smirk.

Hmm, where to start his search? Maybe it was time to pay the head of CEDEF's lovely wife a visit. Reborn had been told that Nana was a very hospitable person, after all.

 **A/N**

 **Hi everyone!**

 **IMPORTANT!**

 **I don't know if I should continue this story as a songfic… would you prefer it if I did or would you prefer it to be a normal story? I'd really appreciate your thoughts since it well determine the layout of this story! And if you guys do decide that you want it to be normal, I won't be rewriting the first chapters but the following ones just won't have songs in them and I'll put a playlist at the bottom if you want to hear the songs that go with the chapter! Don't forget to review who you want Tsuna to end up with in the end!**

 **Speaking of Reviews, thank you to all that did review! I'll be replying to those reviews here!**

 **Bubblepop32** **– Indeed it does! I'll be sure to include some unexpected surprises along the way of course ;) I'll try not to discontinue it like my other stories but no promises! :P Thanks for your vote for Gokudera! Once I have more votes I'll start posting a poll!**

 **reginachen10** **– I really like the idea of All27 and it'll probably be like that until I settle down on who I want Tsuna to end up with! XD And I totally agree with the fact that Reborn would only go soft for Tsuna! Tsuna's just so cute!**

 **Amaya Ishimoto** **– Thank you! I'm glad that you find it interesting! :D I wonder what will happen next as well! XD**

 **.Oo** **– Sorry if there was a lot of content in the first chapter! I'll try to shorten it down a bit but there's so much I want to write and sometimes it's inconvenient to suddenly cut off in the middle without explaining what's happening!** **You mentioned about wanting to help me? What exactly did you mean by that? Sorry I couldn't quite tell! And I'm glad that you like my story! :D**

 **Guest** **– Thank you! I'll try my best to!**

 **seryuTammi** **– Thank you for your review and I apologise for the mistakes that I've made in my writing! I didn't actually reread it before I posted it (which I admit was a mistake) but I'll be sure to do so from now on!** **And R27! This seems to be the popular vote but I'll wait till I get a few more before I officially declare Reborn the winner! ;)**

 **Guest** **– Thank you! I'm glad you think so!**

 **Another note! Sorry for the slighty(VERY) late update! I've actually had most of this written by the time I released the first chapter but I had some writers block with dealing with Lambo's introduction so it's taking longer than I originally anticipated.**

 **Also, for those wondering, I don't think I'll be shipping Tsuna with Ryohei as I think that Ryohei and Hana are a much more interesting couple! Sorry if I disappointed anyone!**

 **Until next time!**

 **Limina~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer – If I did own Hitman Reborn I wouldn't still be in the place I am right now.**

 **Don't forget to vote for who you want Tsuna to end up with!**

 **Btw the A/N at the end is rather long so feel free to go ahead and skip it~**

Chapter Three

There was a tall darkhaired foreigner at her door. Nana blinked at the sight. Did she somehow know this man?

"Pleasure to see you in such excellent health, Nana." The lightly accented Japanese came from the fedora wearing stranger.

Apparently she did. Placing a hand on her cheek and tilting her head she gave a light-hearted giggle. "Why thank you! May I have the honour of knowing your name as you so courteously know mine?"

"Ah forgive my bad manners. My name is Reborn, I'm a colleague of your husband's." Reborn gave a mysterious smile as he gauged Nana's reaction.

At the mention of her husband she instantly relaxed and took on a more genuine cheerful manor. "Ara? You work with my Honey? You don't seem like someone who'd make homes for penguins in Antarctica."

Reborn momentarily froze. What kind of an excuse did that damn head of CEDEF make to his wife? He recovered smoothly. "Of course. It was a… _unique_ experience."

"It would appear so! And how is my Tsu-kun?" Nana asked curiously.

"Tsunayoshi is doing fine and if all my expectations are right then I suspect that you'll be seeing him very soon." Reborn gave a smirk.

"Ara? That's great! So Reborn what brings you to my doorstep?" Nana asked with a smile.

"I happened to have a job here in Namimori and when I mentioned it to Imeitsu he told me that he had a wife here who would he would like me to check up on who would provide me with accommodation for the duration of my stay here." Reborn lied through his.

"Anata did? Well if that's true then you can feel free to stay here however long you want!"

And just like that, Reborn slipped into Nana's house with relative ease, a smirk adorning his lips.

Nana bustled around the kitchen preparing things dinner. "If I had known I'd have a guest I would have gone shopping. I hope that you're okay with just a few dishes, tomorrow I'll make a feast!"

"Thank you, and my apologies for imposing on you on such short notice." Reborn leaned against his suitcase.

"Reborn-san you can take the guest room, it's upstairs, second door on the right! The bathroom is on the left!"

Reborn excused himself as he carried the luggage upstairs. He took note of the door adjacent to it having a little symbol of a fish on it before he opened the door to his new room. The room itself was quite simple with a bed against the wall, a bookshelf across from it and a desk next to it. He opened the wardrobe against the far wall which was completely empty save for a single white bathrobe and a pair of slippers.

Unpacking didn't take much time and he found himself wandering back downstairs, led by the smell of a delicious aroma.

Nana was placing dishes on a dinner table and Reborn helped himself to a seat. "You can begin now Reborn-san! I made Italian dishes to help make you feel more at home!"

The fedora wearing man took a bite of the pasta she had laid on a plate for him. "This is delicious, you could give Italians chefs a run for their money."

"Ara! That's so nice of you to say, Reborn-san!" Nana's cheeks reddened.

"Please, just call me Reborn, Nana." Reborn gave a smirk-like smile.

"Of course but I'll have you know that I'm completely loyal to my husband." Nana said with another smile.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Reborn placed another forkful of pasta into his mouth. "I noticed that you have a room with a fish design on it. Is there anything inside that I should be aware of?"

Nana's eyes took on a faraway look. "Ah, you're talking about Tsu-kun's old room. When he was a baby that used to be his room. I haven't changed anything since Imeitsu left but I clean it regularly. I like to think that one day Tsu-kun will come back and that room will always be his. I wonder what Tsu-kun looks like now…. He'd be almost be sixteen…" Nana mused.

Reborn couldn't help but feel pity for the woman sitting across from him. He reached into the inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out the photo that Timeoto had given him to track Tsunayoshi. "I have a photo if you would like to see it."

He held out the photo and Nana gingerly took it. Tsuna was filling out a worksheet, a concentrated look on his face, unaware that someone was taking a photo of him.

Tears began to fall down Nana's face. "Tsu-kun looks just like his father! He has my eyes though…" She traced the figure of her son before wiping her eyes. "Thank you Reborn." She held the photo out for him to take it back.

Reborn watched her quietly before pushing the photo back to her. "You can keep it if you like."

Nana smiled. "You're such a nice man, Reborn. Whoever raised you would be proud of you."

Reborn let out a small smile. "Thank you. Sorry, I must excuse myself for a bit." He got up and walked to his room, closing the door softly behind him.

The world was cruel, even to people that didn't deserve it. Reborn knew that more so than others. When he had first begun as hitman, he had known what kind of world it was and he had adopted the best attitude to deal with it. He could bring enemies down with ease and end a life without a second thought yet simple things like Nana was able to affect him.

Reborn snorted to himself. What a strange man he had become.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

After his first day of school and in such an unfamiliar environment, Tsuna feel asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow on his futon (much to Yamamoto's amusement).

Tsuna knew that he was dreaming as soon as he found himself outside the ornate wooden door in the crimson carpeted corridor.

After contemplating what to do for a while, he opened the door. Everything looked the same from last time save for the fact that this time, there was no blue-eyed man sitting behind the desk.

The brunette looked around unsurely before stepping further into the room. He picked up the top piece of paper from the neat pile of documents sitting on the desk. It looked like business deal of sorts. He put it back down and wandered over to the cabinet and opened it slightly to find it full of more business papers.

"What are you doing?"

Tsuna gave a startled jump and slammed the cabinet shut before spinning around. The blue-eyed man from before was leaning against the door frame of the door that he had entered through, wearing the same pinstriped outfit.

"Who are you?" Tsuna blurted out.

The blond haired man raised his eyebrow. "I believe that should be my question. Who are you and what are you doing in my office?"

"You're office?" Tsuna frowned.

"Are you new?"

"Uhh yes?"

The blond man moved away from the door and stepped closer towards the younger boy.

"What's your name?"

Tsuna blinked at the question. "Tsunayoshi Vo-… Sawada. Tsunayoshi Sawada. But you can call me Tsuna."

"Tsunayoshi? You must be from the Japanese branch then."

"Ah sure. And not to be rude or anything but who are you?"

The older man looked somewhat surprised at the question. "Giotto Vongola. I'm surprised that you don't know me."

Vongola? Did Tsuna have an older brother that he didn't know about? Studying the blond closely, Tsuna could definitely see a resemblance.

Slightly unnerved but the younger boy's staring Giotto reached up and scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Is there something on my face?"

"Ah n-no! Sorry I was just thinking… that…" Tsuna searched for something to say "your suit is really nice."

Giotto blinked slowly. "But you were staring at my face…"

"A-ah? Well your suit matches your face very well?" Tsuna offered lamely.

"…Why is that question?"

"I don't know?!" Tsuna exclaimed as he turned away from Giotto and placed his hands over his burning face.

Briefly running a hand over his face (just in case) he approached the brunette. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

Tsuna turned around slightly and lowered his hands enough for Giotto to get a glimpse of his blushing face. The blonde's finger twitched as his body froze. How was it humanly possible for someone to look so cute?!

Pushing his random thought aside, he elaborated on his question. "As in here, in my office."

"I got lost, I think." Tsuna mumbled through his hands.

You think? "That's understandable. I think that some of the maids also get lost here. Where were you trying to go?"

Tsuna lowered his hands back down to his sides as he thought. "I'm not quite sure. All I remember is a lot of darkness and then I was here." He recounted the darkness that happens before a dream.

Giotto frowned. "What year is it?"

Tsuna felt his heart drop to his feet. "…I'm not sure…"

"Is it possible….?" Giotto muttered under his breath.

Tsuna looked up at him from under his eyelashes, wondering why Giotto hadn't done anything yet.

He was stroking his chin with a thoughtful look. "Stay right here."

The blond exited the room hurriedly.

Tsuna watched him leave in horror, believing the worst. He's going to get guards and then the brunet would truly be doomed!

The boy quickly made his way to his salvation: the window. He opened it and looked at the drop below. It wasn't as big as the drop from his room when he had escaped, but this time there was no rope for him to use.

He gripped the edge of the windowsill with trembling hands before he reaffirmed his determination. He didn't want to die just yet, _even if this was a dream_. Were there any other options?

Tsuna's gaze roamed around. He could try scaling the wall but that was virtually impossible with someone his clumsiness.

A light breeze caused a leaf to fall in front of his eyes as Tsuna watched it's decent to the ground below. His eyes then looked up as he saw the tree branch near the window. It was then that the idea occurred to him. The branch wasn't that far away and it looked thick enough to carry his weight.

Tsuna carefully stepped onto the windowsill, bending his head so that he didn't bump the top. One hand grasping onto the top of it, he reached out with his other towards the branch and felt his fingers just skim the top of it. If he jumped he should be able to make it.

Withdrawing his arm back carefully he steadied his body and placed his both his hands on the sill. He looked down nervously at the drop. From this height if he were to fall it would almost certainly be life threatening. He couldn't mess this up.

He swallowed thickly as he trained his eyes back onto the branch. He drew in his legs and coiled himself, preparing to jump. Just as he was about to jump he heard the sound of the door swinging open again. Startled, he jumped and hit his head on the top of the window as he lost his balance, falling out the window as his foot got tangled in the curtain next to the window causing him to face plant into the wall.

He cursed his luck.

Giotto watched in horror as the boy toppled out the window upon his entrance. Momentarily forgetting about his companion that he had brought with him, he made his way to the window.

"Tsunayoshi!" He reached down and began to help the younger boy back through the window.

The brunet felt arms wrap around his waist as he was hauled back in. He sat dazed against the wall as he comprehended what had just happened to him. He swore he had seen his life flash before his eyes.

Giotto awkwardly tried to comfort the brunet, giving tentative pats on the boy's back.

"Tsunayoshi… are you alright?" The blond asked worriedly.

Said boy spared him an incredulous glance. "You try hanging upside down from a window and then tell me if you feel alright."

Giotto grimaced. "Right, that was stupid of me to ask."

"Yes. Yes it was."

A slight cough from the other side of the room drew both of their attention.

There was a man with black buzz cut hair wearing priest clothing holding what looked like to be a book with a holy cross on it looking at the duo in slight amusement.

"Ah right." Giotto turned back to Tsuna and gestured to the man behind him. "This is my friend Knuckle. I think that he might be able to help you."

Tsuna peered at the man before him. For some reason he reminded the brunet of someone else. "What made you think that I needed help?"

"Well apart from your suicidal tendencies, we know your secret."

Both of Tsuna's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. They knew that he was the heir of the Vongola Famiglia?

"Oh? And what makes you think that this man may be able to help me?"

"You see, Knuckle is a priest." Giotto explained.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Knuckle let out a smile as he approached the brunet. "As Giotto said, I'm a priest and although I've never tried to exorcize a ghost or spirit before, I'll make sure that you'll be able to rest in peace!"

There was a moment of silence as Tsuna tried to process the words the man before him had just said.

"Come again?"

"I'll exorcize you to the extreme! I'll make sure that you'll be able to pass onto the other world!" The dark haired priest let out another laugh. "You can count on me!"

"I'm not a ghost!" Tsuna cried, giving both males a look of disbelief. How could they even think of something so ludicrous?

Knuckle turned away to face Giotto who leaned down to whisper into his friend's ear.

"I don't think that the poor boy realises that he's dead yet."

Knuckle quickly recovered from his surprise before giving Tsuna a sympathetic look.

"Don't worry, you'll soon accept the fact that you're dead. Do you have any regrets that you think might be keeping you from passing on?"

"I think that the only regret that I'll ever have is not falling out that window! I'm not dead and I'm not a ghost!" Tsuna spluttered.

A sudden pounding in Tsuna's head distracted him.

 ** _Tsuna…_**

The brunet looked around. Who was calling him?

 ** _Tsuna!_**

Tsuna clutched his head as the pounding got worse, drawing the attention of his two companions.

"Hey Tsuna? Are you okay?" Giotto's voice sounded far away to Tsuna's ears as the brunet winces and squeezed his eyes shut.

 ** _TSUNA!_**

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Tsuna opened his eyes to see Yamamoto standing worriedly above him.

"Ah, Tsuna! You're finally awake! I've been trying to wake you up for a while now, hahaha!" Yamamoto smiled as he made his way out the door. "Dad told me to wake up and tell you that breakfast was ready."

Tsuna sat up disoriented as he watched Yamamoto leave the room. He ran a hand over his face before falling back onto the futon. What a strange dream…

He turned his head to look at the alarm clock before shooting out of bed. How did it get this late?! He quickly put on his school uniform before dashing down the stairs to the kitchen, his bag swinging on his shoulder.

"Yama-Takeshi! How can you be eating breakfast peacefully like that?! We're going to be late for school!"

Takeshi gave a slight laugh and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. It was then that Tsuna noticed Tsuyoshi standing in front of the door.

The man had his arms crossed and was staring down at the two boys, a knife in one hand.

"No one leaves this house without breakfast." Tsuna swore he saw the man's eyes gleam along with the knife.

"And that's how it is." Takeshi went back to eating his breakfast.

Tsuna sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he was going to be late to school before pulling up a chair to dig into his breakfast.

As soon as the two boys finished, Tsuyoshi gave them each a lunch bento before moving out of the doorway. He watched from his shop window as the two boys ran to school before going back to sharpening his knife.

"Ah to be young again…"

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Tsuna panted as he reached the gate to the school. He gave a side long glance to his dark haired friend who barely seemed out of breath.

"Herbivores you're one minute late. I'll bite you both to death." The prefect readied his tonfas at the pair.

"Ma ma, Hibari-senpai, it's only a minute. Can't you let us off the hook?" Yamamoto laughed nervously.

Tsuna 'hieed' internally at the sudden appearance of the demon prefect.

"H-Hibari-senpai by biting us to death, you'll be making us even later to class!" Tsuna stuttered nervously.

"Herbivores must be punished for breaking the rules." Hibari replied before going into his fighting stance and aiming a swipe at Tsuna's head.

"Hieeeee!" Tsuna ducked under his arm and made a desperate dash to the school building and felt Yamamoto run beside him.

Suddenly something pushed him from behind.

"Oof!" Tsuna went down like the titanic but not before grabbing onto whatever crashed into him and bringing it down with him.

In the distance Yamamoto kept running unaware that he had left his friend behind.

Tsuna felt something heavy on top of him and let out a slight groan as he felt it move. He could feel a dull pain in his side. That was definitely going to bruise. He let out a wince as he realised that he had reopened the wound on his cheek and his mouth filled with the iron taste of blood.

He then realised that the object on top of him was Hibari. There was a moment of stillness in which he registered that the prefect was leaning over him with his elbows on either side of his head and a knee between Tsuna's legs.

It was then that Tsuna began to thrash. One of his awkward arm movements caught Hibari's arm causing it to collapse from is precarious balance that it had currently maintained, sending the prefect forward.

Their lips had barely brushed but it was enough to freeze Tsuna and turn him bright red. Hibari took that opportunity to get off the brunet and stand up.

"Tardiness will not be accepted in the future." Hibari gave him a cold look before stalking off to probably find some other prey. Fortunately for Hibari, Tsuna had failed to notice the slight pink that barely dusted the prefect's face and the way that the prefect refused to look the younger boy in the eye as the brunet made a scramble for the safety of the school building.

As soon as Tsuna made his way inside the classroom he was confronted by a worried looking Yamamoto.

"Tsu-Natsu! Where were you?"

Tsuna glared at the dark haired boy and prodded a finger into Yamamoto's chest. "Where was I?! Where were you!? You left me to the mercy of that demon prefect! You didn't even look back!"

"Hahaha I thought that you were right next to me and then _pshewww_ you were no longer there!"

The brunet couldn't keep up his glare in front of the smiling boy and opted to pout. It was unfair that Yamamoto could run faster because he had longer legs! With a huff, Tsuna made his way to his seat.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

The arrival Namimori was a quiet affair. After disembarking the ship, the captain gave Gokudera a pouch full of money, to which Gokudera protested saying that it wasn't part of the agreement that the two had but much to his dismay, the captain told him that he felt bad about leaving two 'kids' in a foreign place without any money before throwing the pouch at him and promptly leaving.

While Gokudera was unsatisfied about having the money, he couldn't help but feel slightly grateful.

"Lambo-sama is hungry!" The wail pierced the air and Gokudera couldn't help but feel a tug of annoyance at the cow child.

"Shut up you stupid cow!" The silver haired teen shoved his hands into his pockets and stooped slightly as he began to walk away from the pier.

"No you shut up stupid octopus! Lambo-sama is hungry!" the small curly black haired child cried.

The silver haired teen twitched but chose to ignore it in favour of keeping calm. Although he had a little bit of money, it wasn't going to last long and with two mouths to feed it would run out even faster.

Gokudera came to the only possible conclusion: he had to get a job. And fast.

He watched with tired eyes as the sun began to set. Whilst getting a job was important, for now he should focus on find a place to spend the night and then look for accommodation with cheap rent. He ran a hand through his hair as his eyes scanned the shops for any vacant positions or advertising cheap rooms for rent.

After having a fight about what they were going to eat for dinner, they eventually settled on gyoza from a street vendor dressed in baggy purple clothes who peered down at them through large round glasses. But since the food was good and cheap, Gokudera wasn't going to complain.

The odd looking duo sat on the curb eating as their breaths puffed into the air.

"You two are not from around here are you."

Gokudera looked to the side and stared at the street vendor from the corner of his eye.

"What's it to you? It's none of your business." He replied gruffly before tearing away a bite of gyoza.

The vendor was quiet for a moment. "Which famiglia are you from."

The silver haired boy choked. "What are you talking about?!" He spluttered.

After another moment of silence Gokudera hung his head in defeat. "How could you tell?"

The vendor gave a soft smile. "It is rare to see people with their flames awakened, especially if they are children. That, and the only foreigners that seem to visit Namimori seem to be of the mafia sort."

Gokudera frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Namimori is a strange town. Ever since Vongola Primo chose this place to retire and have his descendants, something in the town changed. It's as if there is mist covering the eyes of everyone who lives or has ever lived here."

Gokudera looked around thoughtfully. That was true. He had expected more people to be looking at him since he was a foreigner but most people just brushed past him thought paying any attention.

"Is Namimori a civilian town?" Gokudera asked.

The vendor nodded. "It's meant to be a safe haven for anyone hide. However, most of the people that live here have ties in some way or another to the underground world. There are shops here that are run by those who have fled as if they are trying to find a new way of life."

The silver haired teen frowned. "That may be true but the underworld doesn't let go of people that easily."

The vendor inclined his head in agreement. "That's why it's strange. It's also the reason why I came here to investigate." The vendor looked at Gokudera from the corner of his eye.

The sound of crinkling caught his attention and he turned to see the vendor offering him another bag of gyoza. He looked at it suspiciously.

The vendor laughed. "It's on the house."

The teenager took the bag begrudgingly. "I never did ask but which mafia famiglia do you belong to?"

"I could ask that same question back at you."

"…if you don't ask about mine, I won't ask about yours."

"Deal."

There was a moment of silence before they both broke into soft laughter.

The vendor cleared his throat. "Do you have anywhere to stay for the night?"

Gokudera's face fell. He had forgotten about that problem. "Unfortunately, no."

The vendor smirked. "I'd be happy to provide food and shelter for you and your friend."

The silveret frowned. Nothing in this world was free. "What's the catch? I doubt that you'd do something like that from the good of you heart."

The vendor's smile deepened. "I'm glad to see that you are able to think like that. You are correct, there is a catch. You see, whilst I was sent here by my famiglia to research about what is happening in Namimori, I have other work, _personal,_ work which to me is more important."

"You want me to investigate for you."

"Precisely."

Gokudera mulled over the idea in his head. He didn't like the thought of taking charity from someone else but there wasn't really anything that he could do in this type of situation. He needed food and a place to live for himself and the stupid cow which had tagged along. He supposed that if he saw investigating as some sort of job which was paid with food and lodging… when he thought of it that way, it was easier to accept.

"You'd be that willing to let someone you don't know from a different famiglia into your house and help you with your private affairs? That seems like a very risky move."

"So you accept. And yes, whilst it may be extremely risky to trust another famiglia, and if you betray my trust you can rest assured that I will go to any length to pay you back four times what you do, to me family is more important than famiglia. And I will stop at nothing to save my family from my famiglia."

Gokudera let out a low whistle. "There's no need to get so riled up." He leaned his head back. "I'd probably be the same if there was someone that meant a lot to me."

"You have no family members? That's a blessing in disguise in this sort of world."

"None that matter who are alive." Gokudera ignored the memory of an older pink-haired girl holding a plate of drooping purple food which flashed across his mind. "None that matter…" He repeated as if to convince himself as well.

"… Come, I'll show you where you'll be living now. It's getting late and it seems that your friend has fallen asleep."

Gokudera turned to his other side and sure enough, the curly haired child in a cow suit was sleeping soundly. With a sigh, he scooped up the child into his arms and followed the vendor as he pushed his cart down the street.

After a while of walking they stopped outside a pair of red Chinese-style gates, something Gokudera did not expect to find in Japanese town.

"This is my humble home. Now I share it with you." The vendor pushed open the gates and led them through a garden made of pebbles which contoured into swirling shapes surrounded by lush greenery.

The silver haired teen snorted and muttered under his breath. "Humble my ass."

The purple clad vendor ignored his comment with a serene smile as he led them through his house before stopping outside one of his guest rooms.

"This room shall be yours if you like it. The room to the left can be your friend's unless the two of you would like to share a room in which I case I won't stand in the way."

"I think tonight, we'll share just so that when he wakes up, he'll have something familiar with him."

The vendor observed him. "You are a kind boy."

Gokudera wanted to laugh at that comment. He had been called many things over the years but kind was not one of them.

"I'm not as kind as you are to offer my house to complete strangers…" he trailed off.

The vendor cleared his throat. "You may address me as Kaze."

 **(T/N: For all of you who haven't figured it out so far, the vendor is Fon, the storm acrobaleno. In the manga, Fon's name is written as** **風** **which can mean wind. Wind in Japanese is Kaze. If there's a name which better suits Fon's alias feel free to comment or leave a review about it and if there is one that really fits then I'll come back later and change it)**

Gokudera opened his mouth when he was rudely cut off by a now awake Lambo.

"My name is Lambo-sama and this is Tako-head! GYAHAHA!"

Gokudera twitched before smacking the back of Lambo's afro, causing the small child to lose concousness and fall back asleep.

"Ignore the cow brat. My name is Hayato… I've thrown away my last name."

Fon gave Gokudera a knowing look. He had done the same thing; thrown away his last name.

He held out his hand to the teen. "I look forward to our partnership."

"Same here." Gokudera gripped the hand firmly.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

Tsuna began to understand why the characters in the books that he read all seemed to despise school. His classmates kept whispering about him when they thought he wasn't paying attention and Nezu-sensei seemed to have made it his life goal to pick on him whenever he could. So when school finally ended it was understandable why he felt the need to race out of the gates of his new hell.

The only thing stopping him was the sight of the stranger wearing a fedora leaning against one of gates. Tsuna's whole body froze. A student walked into him from behind and tripped.

Keeping his eyes on the hitman Tsuna slowly moved backwards. Realising that the hitman had not noticed him yet, he gave a half-hearted apology to the boy on the ground before running back into the school.

Tsuna's heart thumped to the beat of his feet slapping the ground. Was there another exit from this school? The shoved this way through a group of students and ignored their shouts of indignation, shouting out an apology.

Yamamoto has baseball practice this afternoon so there was no way that he could rely on the taller teen for support. Tsuna felt like bashing his head against a wall. God he had been so stupid! How could he ever think that he'd be able to leave the Vongola and be free automatically? The brunet didn't notice when the pushed past the disciplinary committee member or how the boy's eyes narrowed.

However, Tsuna _did_ notice when someone started to chase him in the crowd if the shouts around him were any indication. He hadn't needed to turn around all the way to spot the black clad figure.

Tsuna gave in internal hieee as he sped up, believing that it was the mafia man from the gate that was chasing him. Hibari gave a snarl as he quickened his pace as well. There would be no running in his school corridors. This herbivore was breaking too many of his rules.

Tsuna sped around the corner and stopped to watch the black figure skid past him. This was his chance! Tsuna ran back in the direction he came from and sprinted for his life. A faint whizzing sound caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder just in time to notice a flying tonfa whizz over his head. Wait a moment… tonfa?

"Herbivore, I'll bite you to death for the disturbance of order and running in the corridor."

Hibari?!

Tsuna felt himself slow down. Wait, so the random mafia man chasing him was Hibari? Tsuna came to a dead stop.

Hibari narrowed his eyes and stopped as well. Was the herbivore willing to be bitten to death? Grey eyes finally took notice of who is prey was. The herbivore from this morning?

"This is your second offence to today."

Tsuna ignored Hibari and looked around him. There were no sight of the man in the fedora.

"Hibari-san, did you notice a man wearing dark clothing walking around the school?"

Hibari gave the brunet a considering look but kept his tonfa level as he replied. "There were none noticed or reported during my patrols. However, even there was one I am under no obligation to inform you of it."

Tsuna frowned at his reply but didn't bother asking the prefect anything else. Hibari placed the end of one of his tonfa's under the brunet's chin whilst he was distracted and tilted it so that the shorter boy had to look up. "I'm still biting you to death."

Tsuna paled at his words as he realised the predicament that he was in. He watched with cautious eyes as the dark haired teen lowered his arms and tucked his tonfa's back into his school jacket.

"I'll bite you to death later. There will be no herbivories terrorising the students of Nami-chuu. Prepare yourself, for the next time we meet, you shall be receiving your punishment."

Without waiting for a response the prefect stalked back down the hallway.

Tsuna watched the prefect until he rounded the corner and disappeared from view. He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding before leaning one hand on the wall.

Hibari-senpai was so scary! He thought that the prefect was going to squash him! Like a bug!

The brunette jumped as he felt a hand clasp onto his shoulder.

"HIEEEEEEEE!"

"Woah, Tsuna, it's just me!" At the sound of the familial jovial tone Tsuna spun around.

"Yamamoto-san!"

" _Takeshi_."

"Sorry, _Takeshi_."

"I thought that you were going straight home today?" The older boy gave the shorter one a confused look.

Tsuna laughed a bit as he made up his excuse. "I thought that I'd try leaving from the back gate today and explore the town a bit more."

"That sounds nice! I'm running late for my club but I hope that you have a lot of fun!" Yamamoto smiled before jogging down the corridor that Hibari had gone down.

Tsuna couldn't help but give a smile of his own at the amount of energy the other boy had. He turned and continued to make his way down the hallway, looking over his shoulder periodically as the hair on his neck continued to crawl.

As soon as he exited the building his intuition was going crazy. It throbbed and pounded in the back of his head as if it was trying to tell him something.

The brunet kept turning around and looking over his shoulder. Who was watching him?

As soon as he walked past the gate he broke into a run.

He turned into a nearby alleyway and twisted his way between two houses, silently apologising for the trampled gardens that he left in his wake.

He changed his direction and winded his way in-between houses and through side streets, sometimes doubling back, sometimes pausing to wait for a few minutes in a hiding spot before moving again.

Just when he thought that he'd finally lost his pursuer, he felt a presence behind him. Without bothering to look behind him, Tsuna shot forward in the opposite direction. Trying to lose whoever was following was proving harder than he had anticipated and he could already feel himself start to slow down as he began to run out of stamina.

A while back, Tsuna had realised that he was lost but with no choice but to keep trying to evade his pursuer he had to keep moving.

The street opened up into what looked like a plaza with many shops and a crowd milling about.

This was his chance! He could lose he person following him amongst the crowd! With renewed energy Tsuna dived into the crowd and let it carry him away. From the corner of his eye he noticed a flash of black and orange but it disappeared when he turned to face it.

Eventually the crowd thinned out and Tsuna found himself in a dirtier part of the plaza. He couldn't feel anyone following him anymore so he slowed down and began to look around. Just where was he? It didn't look like anywhere Yamamoto had shown him.

In his thoughts, the brunet failed to notice where he was walking. He bumped into someone walking in the opposite direction and lost his footing. Unable to maintain his balance, he braced himself to fall onto the ground. Hands grabbed his shoulders and steadied him.

There was a moment where everything was still. Where the brunet didn't move as his mind tried to catch up to what was happening and the fact that his face wasn't pressed against the ground.

Tsuna's face flushed at his clumsiness. This is so embarrassing! To have to be caught by a stranger!

A deep voice resonated in the air.

"Are you all right?"

The voice, closer than his ear than expected, sent shivers up and down Tsuna's spine. All that he could do was let out a very unmanly squeak as he pulled himself away from the arms that had wrapped themselves around him.

He bowed at the stranger, not taking in their appearance. "I-I'm fine. S-sorry for bumping into you…"

The taller, and by the sound of his voice older, man gave a slight chuckle. Tsuna peered up at him through his lashes as he straightened his back again.

The man wore a dark waistcoat over a white button down shirt, rolled up just above the elbows, loosely tucked into a pair of black slacks. But the part of the outfit that stood out the most was the black fedora which crowned the man's head stopping just above the start of a pair or curled sideburns. On his right arm hung what seemed to be matching suit jacket.

Tsuna frowned as something in the back of his head started to ring. This man familiar… But he couldn't place the man from somewhere. His attention was diverted back to the fedora as a flash of green flickered before disappearing.

"No, it was also partly my fault for not paying attention to my surroundings as well."

Tsuna looked down from the brim the hat and met the eyes of the holder's. They were dark, like onyx and contained a hint of amusement within them.

"As an apology, would you like me to treat you to someplace?"

It wasn't until he felt the stranger steering him out of the back end of the plaza that Tsuna had realized that he had unconsciously agreed.

"U-um, what's your name?" Tsuna timidly asked.

The darkhaired man looked at him from the corner of his eye as he led them into a quiet looking café before giving a sly smirk, the corner of his mouth quirking up slightly.

"I've been called many names over the years, but the most popular one seems to be 'Reborn'."

As Tsuna sat down at a table and tucked his bag beside his feet he couldn't help but feel that the alarm bells in his head began to ring a little louder.

Reborn observed Tsuna with amusement as the brunet's eyes looked slightly troubled. Unperturbed, he played with his a sideburn as he ordered an espresso and watched as Tsuna ordered a random drink. The drinks arrived soon and a silence befell them.

"Judging by your uniform, you probably go to Namimori High School."

Tsuna almost jumped as the sudden question interrupted his thoughts. "Y-yes, I do. And judging by your clothes you're probably a businessman of some sort. You don't look like one of Japanese descent so you're either overseas for some investment or here for a holiday but if you were here for a holiday then you generally wouldn't be wearing business attire-"

He cut himself off as soon as he realized that he started to ramble. A heavy blush settled on his face as he tried to redeem himself. "S-sorry, I didn't meant to ramble! I forgot to think about I was saying and everything just came out and I should stop talking now." He hid is face and took a sip of his drink, savouring the sweetness as he tried to will his face to stop turning red.

Reborn looked even more amused and the slight of the spluttering teenager. He placed his cup onto the table and savoured the taste of coffee within in mouth. "You have some pretty good observational skills."

Tsuna seemed to calm down a lot but still blushed at the slight compliment. He looked out the window and noticed how dark it was. Yamamoto's baseball practice was probably over by now and he must be wondering where his friend was! Tsuna stood up abruptly, as he collected his bag.

"Sorry, I have to go now!" Tsuna began to rummage through his bag to find his wallet. He hadn't realized how much time he had wasted running away from the random mafia man.

Tsuna looked up as he felt a hand placed on his.

"I'll pay as an apology for bumping into you so don't worry about it." Reborn set down a couple of notes on the table. "I'll also walk you home, you probably don't know how to get to Namimori from here."

Tsuna's initial look of surprised morphed into one of gratitiude. "Thank you!"

After about half-an-hour of walking, Tsuna realized that he had ended up two suburbs away from Namimori. As he stood outside TakeSushi he couldn't help but give a grateful smile to the fedora wearing stranger. Ah that's right, his name was Reborn. He thanked the man again. Reborn simply tipped his hat forward.

"I'm sure that our paths will cross again, Tsunayoshi."

While Tsuna watched the man disappear down the street he couldn't but frown. A shiver ran down his spine as if it were a premonition of something bad to happen.

As soon as he had turned to enter the shop he bumped into a worried looking Yamamoto. The frown on Yamamoto's face had disappeared as soon as his eyes spied the brunet's.

"Tsu-Natsu! I was just about to go out searching for you!"

Tsuna laughed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I got a bit lost."

An indescribable emotion flickered across the dark haired boy's face for a moment before it disappeared. "Mah, all that matters now it your safe! I guess I didn't show you around the town well enough…"

Tsuna began to wave his hands around as he tried to reassure Yamamoto that it wasn't his fault. When that didn't seem to work he resorted to pushing the depressed Yamamoto back into the shop. "I'm feeling hungry, aren't you feeling hungry, let's eat!"

"Yosh! I'll make the best sushi you'll have ever tasted as an apology!" Takeshi began to get fired up as he pumped a fist into the air like Ryohei had done so many times.

Tsuyoshi watched with a laugh as his son ran past him, ignoring customers in favour of making food for Tsuna.

It wasn't until later that night, whilst Tsuna lay on his futon with a stomach full of sushi and unable to sleep did he mull over the strange events of today. He had fallen asleep at school and then called a suicidal ghost by some random person in his dream! The brunet wasn't quite sure what to make of that but pushed it to the back of his mind in order to think about the most recent interesting thing.

Reborn… That named seemed so familiar but he couldn't place it anywhere.

Reborn… Just where had he heard that name before?

His eyes snapped open as he looked at the dark ceiling. He felt his blood run cold. Reborn? Wait a moment- wasn't that the name of- Tsuna paled. THE WORLD'S GREATEST HITMAN?!

What- but- how?!

Tsuna looked at the ceiling with wide eyes. He tried to recall everything that had happened with the dark haired stranger. That green flicker that he had seen on the fedora… Could that have been his famous partner, the shapeshifting chameleon Leon?! Of course the fedora! That was clearly one of the trademarks of the infamous hitman! Tsuna wanted to smack his head on a wall for not noticing it sooner!

 _"I'm sure that our paths will cross again, Tsunayoshi."_

Oh lord. Tsuna rolled over and stuffed his face into his pillow. Not only had he instigated that they would meet again, but he had known Tsuna's name! Something that the brunet hadn't even thought twice of even though he couldn't remember telling the man his name, let alone the fact that he was going by NATSU!

The soft snoring on Yamamoto on the other bed reminded him that it was late at night and that he should be sleeping. Maybe he had dreamed up seeing Reborn? And that everything that had transpired today was just a figment of his imagination?

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

"Uwa. Sawada's face looks like he got hit by bus." Hana stared at Tsuna as she passed by him to get to her desk.

Said brunet was lying with his cheek on his desk as he watched the door to the classroom slide open and shut with glazed eyes.

"Mah mah it doesn't look that bad… Well sorta…" Yamamoto peered down at Tsuna slightly. "He should be fine… right?"

Kyoko sent Tsuna a worried look. "Natsu-kun's eye-bags look really deep… I wonder if he slept at all…"

The chime of the school bell cut them off and everyone hurried back to their seats.

However, it wasn't their teacher, Nezu-sensei that walked in but rather the principle!

The class became unusually silent at the appearance of the man.

"Ehem. Your normal teacher, Nezu-sensei, has decided to retire from teaching."

"Ehhhhhhhh?!"

"I bet it had something to do with Sawada-san!"

"Like the fight he had with Nezu-sensei this must be his revenge!"

Tsuna snapped out of his daze at the mention of his name. He looked around the classroom blurrily as if realizing where he was for the first time.

"EHEM. Fortunately for us, our school was able to find a permanent substitute teacher on such short notice. Everyone please welcome your new teacher who will be taking you from now till the end of the year, Reborn-sensei!"

A tall man wearing a fedora sauntered into the room. Tsuna felt dread and disbelief pool in his stomach.

Onyx clashed with brown.

"Chaos." He smirked.

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~

 **A/N**

 **Wow it's been a while since I've updated! I'll try to keep the a/n short so that I can focus on the reviews! By popular and majority vote, this story will be discontinued as a songfic and just continued as a normal story. If I find some spare time, I'll go back and edit the previous chapters and fix it so that the songs are removed but the story still flows.**

 **Also, so far the results from the sorta-poll-thingy seem like All27 and then eventual R27. I may or may not follow it depending on how the story progresses but I can guarantee that there will be All27 for the next few chapters.**

 **If there is a character that has not yet been introduced then feel free to comment that character and I'll try to see if I can fit them in during the next few chapters.**

 **I realized around the part where I was writing about Gokudera and Fon that I might make this story a lot more serious then I intended and I'll probably be introducing themes other than romance and the whole 'running away' thing. But the next few chapters should remain relatively the same so that I can make a few build-ups to actual action and drama.**

 **I also want to address the whole 'Acrobaleno are adults' in this fic. When I originally wrote the draft for this chapter, I had made Reborn and adult whilst Fon stayed as baby but then I realized that would be pretty inconsistent and very stupid thing to do. I haven't decided how the whole curse thing is going to work but I'll probably figure something out.**

 **Now on to the reviews! Wow I did not expect to get this many reviews and that makes me super happy and super motivated to continue writing! Due to the influx, in my next chapters, I'll probably only reply to the guest reviews on the chapter and everyone else will be receiving it in their DMs.**

 **Review Replies:**

 **Zeichnerinaga** **– I'm glad to know that you think that it is! I find it a bit hard to write about comedy but I'll still try my best in hopes that my story can at least put a smile on some reader's faces! (Btw, I spent about five minutes trying to say your username out loud and I'm pretty sure that I'm still saying it wrong xD)**

 **LuizaCielo** **– Tsuna didn't defend himself from Hibari because he wasn't expecting Hibari to attack him and was thus really surprised! I like HanaxRyohei as well! I'm pretty sure that at some point in this fic they will get together but it'll probably be much later in the story!**

 **Takatou** **– It's rare to receive such high praise! And I'm thrilled that you like it! I see what you mean about the whole awkwardness with songs and I have to agree. It's a bit harder to write a story as if it's a musical and to be honest, after finishing the previous chapter I was tired of having to search up songs and song lyrics… I guess it all works out well in the end for everyone! It's comments like your that really put a smile on my face and motivate me to work even harder!**

 **Four-eyes-girl** **– Although there wasn't much R27 in this chapter, rest assured that there will definitely be more to come! This story is no longer a song-fic so I hope that it's still as good as the previous chapters I've done!**

 **Deponia** **– I have to say as soon as you wrote in your review that the Tsuna in this story was a mixture of powerful and the usual loser-Tsuna, I didn't even realize it until you mentioned it! I wasn't really sure whether or not I wanted Tsuna to be strong or weak in this fic so maybe I had unconsciously decided a little bit of both?! I don't know about the end pairing yet but there will definitely be some GokuderaxTsuna moments coming up so stay tuned to read and find out!**

 **Chew Chew** **– I'm happy to know that you think this story is interesting!**

 **Anano Jinseite** **– Your comment actually legit put a smile on my face when I was reading it! I hope you liked the 1827 in this chapter (even if it was strange and slightly fluffy) :P**

 **cheshire-catR27** **– R27 seems to be one of the most popular ships! (I just noticed that it's also in your name :o) It's definitely coming in first place in the poll-thingy. And thank you for the compliment! 3**

 **Fifi** **– Ahahaha, although I said that I'd update soon I waited seven months before posting the next chapter T_T And thank you for the compliment! :D**

 **.Oo** **– Even though it doesn't take that long to write these chapters, I think that I just have the trouble finding the time to actually sit down and write **sweatdrops** If you're willing, and only if you're willing, I don't mind sending you the raws for the previous chapters if you felt like helping edit out the songs. It'll be hard trying to tie the two ends together and therefore it's completely understandable if you don't want to! But that's the only thing that I can think of that you may be able to help with because in terms of writing this fic, I don't really plan and just let my fingers and my mind do whatever they want to.**

 **aiwataru1** **– Thank you so much for the compliment and I took into account what you said and what other people have said and as a result the songfic part of this fic has been removed! (Not that I really minded since it's easier to write a normal story than a strangeish musical thingy!)**

 **twilightserius** **– Your comment was one of the rare few comments which made me physically laugh! I don't know where you got the inspiration to write flying figs but it was extremely amusing to read! I wonder if this chapter answered your previous question ;)**

 **belladu57** **– Thank you for the compliment! It's nice to know that you enjoyed reading my story! :D**

 **Santarella** **– It makes me happy to hear you say things like that! Although you probably can't tell, I thrive off comments and compliments! ;)**

 **Guest/Korazan** **– Thank you! It seems that most people that read this story prefer that pairing as well and I can't disagree either! As I stated earlier, this fic will probably end up with eventual R27 which I suppose would be a good thing for you and many other readers! And I have to agree: Tsuna is so cute!**

 **MassacreMyHeart** **– Thank you for the nice compliment! I don't think that my chapter length has anything to do with the time it takes for me to upload (although it probably does as my friends and other readers tell me otherwise) but I'm going to have a lot of free time soon which means: REGULAR UPDATES!**

 **This story is unedited (mainly because I'm too lazy to go back and reread it) so if you find a mistake or error by all means go ahead and message me about it!**

 **Feel free to leave a review on your way out!**

~O~OO~OOoOO~OO~O~


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